The characters Gina and Herb want children very much. This desire literally turns their lives upside down. Everything is subordinate to this desire - every day, every hour, every minute. Be fruitful and multiply, says the Lord. Be fruitful and multiply - this is what society demands of us. Be fruitful and multiply, suggests the fertility clinics where Gina and Herb seek help...

This is a story of love and faith, of the different types of birds, and of a society that is always aware of the importance of being fruitful and multiplying, or else an ancient tribe in South America will be left with no people, and all the words of this small tribe, whose only language is known to them, will disappear. It is about this tribe that an old woman named Sabo, who has lost her memory, and a girl called Alison are watching a television programme. Alison comes from Kansas, but tragic events have brought her to Lithuania to stay with her grandfather... It's the 1990s, Lithuania is just on its way to becoming an independent country, when 15-year-old Alison finds herself in this strange and unusual country. Her mother is an emigrant from Lithuania who once moved to the US, but now she is gone. And there is the Nemunas River, with the sturgeon in the river - a large mythical fish that has not been seen for a long time. Even her grandfather doesn't believe that Alison will ever catch a sturgeon. But Alison is a persistent fisherman - her mother once managed to catch this river monster, so Alison can too. Too bad she can't ask her mum for tips on how to do it. It's a pity she can't ask her mother anything...

Two novels by American writer Anthony Dorr, Be Fruitful and Multiply and The River Nemunas, tell stories that touch on deep and important themes and try to understand the fundamental problems of human existence. The author creates his characters with great love and humour, and sees in them people who can change their lives, who can believe, forgive, hope and feel this whole big world, even if "The Great Sadness" comes very close to little Alison and Gina has almost memorised the whole book of a study on birds that her mother gave her. The world is full of hope and love - you just have to see it all.