Divas Almas

Little Alma stands in front of a mirror holding a cat — but in the reflection, she sees only the cat, hanging in midair. In her world, reality and imagination constantly intertwine. Spending the summer with her grandmother, near a cemetery, Alma increasingly reflects on life and death, loss and memory. She tries to imagine herself dead, searches for the difference between the living and the departed, and asks questions that adults are often afraid to answer.

In her book “Divas Almas”, Inese Zandere explores the complex, taboo subject of death and loss through the eyes of a child. She approaches it with lightness, humor, and tenderness — not as a heavy conversation, but as a riddle to be solved. Anete Bajāre-Babčuka’s illustrations highlight the childlike simplicity and innocence of the story, linking the imaginary with the real, so seamlessly blending these irreconcilable worlds.