Marina Lewycka - Marina Lewycka

  reviewed live on bookshow by Brian Lowen on 18th July 2013 

A rather strange book this, which is probably why it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize!

It concerns two sisters and their lonely eighty-four year old father who is living on his own, two hours drive away from them.  They become very concerned when their father announces that he is going to get married to a thirty-six year old blonde bimbo from the Ukraine. They think, quite rightly, that she is marrying him for his money and to get British nationality. One problem that prevents swift action is the fact that the two sisters are not on speaking terms, but they do start working together to try and persuade their besotted father that this would not be a good idea.

Their father was born in the Ukraine and is writing a short history of tractors in his home country – hence the title of the book. His Fiancée meanwhile has moved in and is slowly draining his bank account by buying lots of new gadgets and a car.

He will not be deterred from his decision to marry his new found love whose main attraction seems to be her substantial bosom which she allows him to fondle.

And so the battle lines are drawn up between the two sisters and the blonde bimbo, as they try to save their father from the

voluptuous gold-digger who will stop at nothing in her pursuit of Western wealth.

The book is quite amusing in parts but I became bored when it goes off on side tracks dealing with the history of the family in the Ukraine.

Not for me, but I am sure others would enjoy it.