Sampinjona deriba by Laima Muktupavela (2002)

The Mushroom Covenant is a novel about Latvians going to Ireland to work. At the time the novel was written, I believe there were about 10,000 Latvians in Ireland. The number is currently more like 30,000. Muktupavela went to Ireland herself and worked, to see what it was like. She has a background in history and journalism, so she was very observant, but this is not her story, it is a woman with nothing to lose in Latvia. It is just strange to read about my own people being treated like migrant workers - which they are, though they are educated, cultured, etc., but without the knowledge of English, they appear ignorant to many of the Irish. The interactions between the Latvians living and working together are disturbingly distant. The mushrooms in the title refer to the mushrooms our main characters are picking seven days a week. Sometimes they get paid, sometimes they don't. There are good employers and not so good employers. Muktupavela looks at the various motivations of workers to go to Ireland, and what they do with the money they earn. I think this wave of migration is ripe for all sorts of research.