Gripping and evocative, Some Unfinished Business tells the story of a man determined to prevail through anti-Soviet resistance in occupied Lithuania, imprisonment in the Gulag, the hands of bureaucracy that attempt to thwart his love for a woman with a mysterious past, while chasing the back of a man who first dared him to dream.

Key Selling Points

• At 14 years old, Martin Averkas was inspired by is teacher to seek a life in the bigger world, beyond his small farming community, but he is repressed time and time again by the Soviet rule over Lithuania. He blames his teacher for inspiring him and seeks revenge on the teacher for opening his mind to possibility.
• Some Unfinished Business is a story of dreams, determination, and resistance in Soviet-occupied Lithuania post-WWII.
• As a journalist, the author closely observed the movement to restore Lithuanian independence from the Soviet Union.
• The characters are based on remarkable historical figures: a murderous children’s poet; an underground resister against Soviet occupation who fought to the death; a librarian who picked up overdue books from the Jewish ghetto and picked up the odd little girl to sneak away too. The setting is also historically based.
• Antanas Sileika is the author of 4 novels, a collection of short stories, and a memoir. He has been shortlisted for the Leacock and the Toronto Book Award, and longlisted for Canada Reads. He received a Knight’s Cross medal from the Lithuanian Government (similar to the Order of Canada).

Gripping and evocative, Some Unfinished Business tells the story of a young man who is determined to prevail through anti-Soviet resistance in occupied Lithuania, imprisonment in the Gulag, and the icy hands of bureaucracy that attempt to thwart his love for a woman with a mysterious past — all while chasing the back of the man who dared him to dream in the first place.

At fourteen, Martin Averka met a teacher from the city who inspired him to seek out the wide world beyond his small village of Lyn Lake. Years later, having lived under the tyranny of an autocratic system populated by cowards and bullies and seeking revenge, he breaks into the Pažaislis Monastery Asylum to come face to face with the man from his youth for one last time.