Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1157 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-02
• Released on: 2006-03-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Synopsis
'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamourous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside.' Sisters Vera and Nadezhda must put aside a lifetime of feuding to save their emigre engineer father from voluptuous gold-digger Valentina. With her proclivity for green satin underwear and boil-in-the-bag cuisine, she will stop at nothing in her pursuit of Western wealth. But the sisters' campaign to oust Valentina unearths family secrets, uncovers fifty years of Europe's darkest history and sends them back to roots they'd much rather forget...

From the Inside Flap
"Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a
glamorous blonde Ukranian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was
thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade,
churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off
memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside."

From the Back Cover
Praise for A SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTORS IN UKRAINIAN: 'Outstanding' Daily Mail

'Extremely funny' The Times

'Nothing short of amazing' Daily Express

Customer Reviews

Missed Opportunity
This book could have been one of the greatest novels of our time. A family story involving sibling rivalry, issues about the elderly and immigration, the roles of communism and capitalism, wartime atrocities and even symbolism using tractors. It is well written and a page turner, so why is it an also ran?

Firstly, the characters act in unbelievable ways and any tension and conflict that builds up just fizzles out. There are unnecessary digressions that don't advance the plot and the plot itself is weak. And finally there is no great theme that glues the whole work together.

Which is a shame because I think that Marina Lewycka could have written that great novel. Perhaps the next one?

Unputdownable!
I must admit it took me a long time before I got round to reading this book. I wondered what all the fuss was about! I think it was the fact that the title made me wonder whether the book was about tractors and nothing else! However, when I started to read, I could not stop until I had reached the end. The narrative could be confusing, though, when there were the flashbacks in time. Although the subject matter was something I don't know much about, I loved the humour in the story, especially Pappa and the gold-digger Valentina, also the relationship they had with the two completely different daughters. I can wholeheartedly recommend "Tractors" to anyone else and cannot wait to read "Two Caravans".

Mixed Feelings
I ended up with mixed feelings on this one, despite enjoying it immensely at times. Firstly let me say it is very easy to read. The pace is good and the idea excellent. The problem is that as you approach the end of the book you sense a disappointment is coming - almost as if the author has run out of ideas and the whole thing just fizzles out.

The result is you feel let down and much of what has gone before suddenly seems irrelevant.

The book tells the story of an Octogenerian Ukrainian refugee living in Peterborough. He has two very different daughters and suddenly a voluptuous Ukrainian wife who is obviously out to bleed him dry. His daughters soon cotton on to this as "pappa" suffers abuse at the hands of Miss Voluptuous and her "genius" son who turns out to be a little short in the genius stakes.

There is plenty of pathos in the book and some deliciously funny sections which is quite a triumph from a plot that could have been very dark indeed. Some of the observations are very sharp and within the framework of the family relationships is exposed a wartime story of the correction camps and the family's otherwise hidden background.

Sadly there are no surprises and the ending is hugely disappointing. Problem is as the book unfolds you begin to feel that this will be the case and when it did all tail off I wasn't that surprised. Worth a read though.