A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is actually Lewycka's first published book but it is the third one of hers I have read after loving her latest release We are all Made of Glue and enjoying (but not loving) her second book Two Caravans. Based on my latest read I am glad that I have read the books in reverse order of their publication because although I did enjoy Tractors it was possibly my least favourite of the three.

Tractors is told from the perspective of Nadezhda (Nadia) the youngest adult daughter of a family who emigrated to England after WW2. Nadia has a virtually non-existent relationship with her older sister, Vera, following an argument that arose from their mother's death a couple of years before. The two sisters are reunited in some way though after their elderly father announces he is going to marry a woman much younger than himself so that she can obtain a residency visa for the UK. Nadia and Vera join forces to try and stop the marriage from happening in the first place and when that is not successful they work on ending it as soon as possible. They have good reasons for wanting the marriage to be over - their father's new wife is quite abusive towards him and I found these scenes particularly difficult to read.

Along with this story we learn the history of the families move to England and how different people in the family have different memories, interpretations and experiences of that history.

The book definitely has Lewycka's characteristic trait of combining serious issues with humour - I just found it harder to go over to the humour side in this book.

Two Caravans - Marina Lewycka

After reading and loving Marina Lewycka's latest book - We Are All Made of Glue - I quickly went out and looked for her two earlier books. I have decided to take A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian with me when we go overseas (in only 7 sleeps!) but I couldn't hold out to read Two Caravans.

Two Caravans tells the story of a group of immigrant workers who have come to England for varying reasons but mainly because they see it as a place of opportunity. The two caravans of the title form the homes for the workers - one caravan for each gender - at the end of their day of strawberry picking on an English farm.

I loved the beginning of this book - each character is introduced beautifully and I thought the scenes at the start really help to define and establish the individual traits and hopes of each person. The backgrounds of each character is also told really helping the reader to get a sense of these characters and what has driven them, or lead them, to become strawberry pickers in the English countryside.

Lewycka has also used her humorous tone and narrative in this book which made me fall in love with the first book of hers I read - although I found this book a lot harder to laugh at and with as it went on. I found Two Caravans a much more serious book in many ways - the plight of these immigrant workers and the atrocious situations they are forced into is no laughing matter. A scene in the middle of the book set in a chicken farm and factory "Buttercup Meadow" has also put me off eating chicken for a VERY long time. Having said that, I really like the way Lewycka puts forward very serious issues in an enjoyable format - I was engaged with this story but it has also made me want to read more about this situation in reality.

The book was not without its flaws for me - I felt it lacked structure after the first section and sort of meandered towards the ending. But even with this it was still a book that I kept enjoying to the end - I think because of the great job Lewycka had done establishing the characters and making me care about what happened to them.

I'm definitely looking forward to Tractors now...

We Are All Made of Glue - Marina Lewycka

I have not read any of Lewycka's books before but I have always been drawn to their titles and covers. When I saw that Samantha at RubyRed Books had enjoyed her latest novel, We Are All Made Of Glue, I thought it was about time I gave this author a go.

I am so glad I did!! Lewycka is now definitely one of my favourite authors - absolutely loved this book and her writing style.

We Are All Made Of Glue is set in present day London where the main character, Georgie Sinclair, is trying to adapt to life without her husband, Rip, who has left her after an argument about a toothbrush holder. Georgie's separation from Rip leads to a meeting with an elderly woman from the neighbourhood, Naomi Shapiro. Georgie is quite unintentionally drawn into Naomi's world and begins to discover secrets about her past and the grand, but very run down house that she lives in.

The author is trying to cover a lot of ground and subject areas in this book - politics, religion, war, the meaning of home, and family relations are just some of the topics covered in more or less detail. Usually when an author does this I just end up feeling lost and dissatisfied but I feel Lewycka covered the areas she chose to include well and did justice to them all in some way.

I love the use of humour in this book too - I laughed out loud on more than one occasion when reading this one which caused a lot of funny looks in my workplace lunch room!