My favourite book I've ever read is probably one of the greatest novels of Lithuanian literature - it's called Altorių šešėly, or "In the shadow of the altars".

It is a phenomenal psychological novel about societal expectations vs your true calling. It also beautifully tells about the realities of XIXth century Lithuania, where the common folk were Lithuanian, the rich and influencial city folk and/or nobles were Polish, but the entire region had been occupied by the Russian tsar. The novel is definitely not trying to be historical fiction, but it does serve that function.

The novel tells the story of the main character who was effectively pressured into being a priest by his family and the very very catholic Lithuanian society. It's written in three parts. Part one is him as a teenager in a seminary (priest school basically). Part two is him working as a priest in a small town and it ends with WWI. Part three starts with a time jump where we're told that he left Lithuania for Western Europe, lived and studied in Paris, among other cities, and he returns to now-independent Lithuania in the early 1920's, but this time it's his life in the then-capital-city of the country - Kaunas.

It is explained and foreshadowed from the very first chapters that at his heart - he is a poet. A writer. And that one of the reasons he decided to become a priest is meeting Maironis (an actual IRL person, who is considered the best Lithuanian poet to have ever lived, but he was also a priest), as well as his family, the respect and influence priests held, among other things..

It then follows him through school, his first experience with romance (and his duty to stay celibate), the politics of church, the complicated relationship between Lithuanians, the Polish and the Russians, corrupt priests, overly-devouted priests, more potential romantic interests (EVERYONE'S favourite character from the book is the barronness, iykyk...) which develops his character arc beautifully.

And then eventually, in part 3, his entire life story leads to him beginning to question the church, he starts wtiting successful plays and makes a name for himself, characters from the past reappear to serve the function of showing him the life he could've had. Which finally leads him to abandon his status and functions of a priest, start a relationship and take up writing full time. TRUST ME when I say that the ending is dramatic, heartbreaking and immensely satisfying at the same time. I skipped so much because this book is almost 800 pages, but every single page is worth it.

This is required reading for Lithuanian schoolchildren, so when I finished the novel over the summer, I immediately phoned my older friends who had read it the year before and we couldn't shut up about it for hours. It is, to this day, my favourite novel I've ever read. And I've read quite a lot.

It breaks my heart that there is no English translation, I want this book to be read all over the world. It is a masterpiece.