Description
THE AWARD-WINNING, MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER
A hilarious, lively, moving and compassionate debut about one Ukrainian-British family's tumultuous relationship and the history they never knew.
'Delightful, funny, touching' Spectator
*****
"As Romeo and Juliet found to their cost, marriage is never just about two people falling in love, it is about families."
Sisters Vera and Nadezhda must aside a lifetime of feuding to save their widowed, tractor-obsessed Ukrainian father from the voluptuous, wealth-obsessed Valentina. With her proclivity for green satin underwear and boil-in-the-bag cuisine, she outmanoeuvres the sisters at every turn.
But their campaign to oust Valentina unearths family secrets, uncovers fifty years of European and Ukrainian history, and sends them back to roots they'd much rather forget . . .
*****
'Hugely enjoyable . . . yields a golden harvest of family truths' Daily Telegraph
'Captures the peculiar flavour of Eastern European immigrant life . . . a very rich mixture indeed' Daily Express
'It's rare to find a first novel that gets so much right . . . Lewycka is a seriously talented comic writer' Time Out
About the Author
Marina Lewycka was born in Kiel, Germany at the end of the war and grew up in England. Her novels Two Caravans and We Are All Made of Glue are available in Penguin now.
Reviews
More than just a jolly romp with political undertones is the way it captures the peculiar flavour of Eastern European immigrant life ... a very rich mixture indeed, as well as very enjoyable reading The Times A delightful first novel ... an understanding of history, a profundity, and yet a lightness of touch, that are a joy ... funny, touching and completely convincing The Spectator
Awards
Winner of Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and The British Book Award and Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize.
Book Information
ISBN 9780241961827
Author Marina Lewycka
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 237g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 128mm * 20mm
