A short history of tractors in Ukrainian : [a novel

Two feuding sisters join forces against their aged father's glamorous, gold-digging new girlfriend in Marina Lewycka’s hilarious debut novel.Sisters Vera and Nadezhda must set aside a lifetime of feuding to save their émigré 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 50 years of Europe's darkest history and sends them back to roots they'd much rather forget..."This novel of ruts and progress, ease and horror, assumption and suspicion, yields a golden harvest of family truths." - The Daily Telegraph"Lewycka is a natural writer, a humorist with a light touch who draws the reader in to a family feud that is utterly funny but also stricken with plaintive sadness over the effects of war and inequity on human relationships. Nothing preachy here, just a boisterous meditation on the need to reconcile old and new Ukraine." - The San Francisco ChronicleMarina Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel in Germany to Ukrainian parents but was brought up in England. This insider-outsider status is evident in her books and she has said that some of the language in A Brief History - which started as a memoir of her mother’s life before veering into comic fiction - is a literal translation of Ukrainian speech. The novel was rejected by 36 times before it found a publisher: Lewycka was 58 when it finally saw the light of day.

“an Amusing, Astonishing Debut . . . About How A Family Learns To Let Go Of The Past And Live And Love In The Present.” —the Atlanta Journal-constitution

with This Wise, Tender, And Deeply Funny Novel, Marina Lewycka Takes Her Place Alongside Zadie Smith And Monica Ali As A Writer Who Can Capture The Unchanging Verities Of Family. When An Elderly And Newly Widowed Ukrainian Immigrant Announces His Intention To Remarry, His Daughters Must Set Aside Their Longtime Feud To Thwart Him. For Their Father's Intended Is A Voluptuous Old-country Gold Digger With A Proclivity For Green Satin Underwear And An Appetite For The Good Life Of The West. As The Hostilities Mount And Family Secrets Spill Out, a Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian Combines Sex, Bitchiness, Wit, And Genuine Warmth In Its Celebration Of The Pleasure Of Growing Old Disgracefully.

“a Charming Comedy Of Eros... A Ride That, Despite The Bumps And Curves In The Road, Never Feels Anything Less Than Jaunty.” —los Angeles Times
“lewycka Is A Writer With A Fundamentally Optimistic Vision Of The Future And A Healthy Curiosity About The Past.” —chicago Tribune
“charming, Poignantly Funny.” —the Washington Post Book World

the Washington Post - Susan Adams

nikolai Mayovskyj Is An 84-year-old Widower, Newly In Love With Valentina, 36, A Bombshell From The Old Country. She Exploded Into Our Lives Like A Fluffy Pink Grenade, Writes His Daughter Nadezhda, The Narrator Of a Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian, The Charming, Poignantly Funny First Novel By Marina Lewycka, A Daughter Of Ukrainian Immigrants.

SUMMARY: An amusing, astonishing debut . . . about how a family learns to let go of the past and live and love in the present. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution With this wise, tender, and deeply funny novel, Marina Lewycka takes her place alongside Zadie Smith and Monica Ali as a writer who can capture the unchanging verities of family. When an elderly and newly widowed Ukrainian immigrant announces his intention to remarry, his daughters must set aside their longtime feud to thwart him. For their fathers intended is a voluptuous old-country gold digger with a proclivity for green satin underwear and an appetite for the good life of the West. As the hostilities mount and family secrets spill out, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian combines sex, bitchiness, wit, and genuine warmth in its celebration of the pleasure of growing old disgracefully. A charming comedy of eros... A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty. Los Angeles Times Lewycka is a writer with a fundamentally optimistic vision of the future and a healthy curiosity about the past. Chicago Tribune Charming, poignantly funny. The Washington Post Book World Fiction,Historical - General,Widowers,Ukrainians,Children of immigrants,Romance,Family Life,Older men,Fathers and daughters,Sisters,Great Britain,Older parents,Psychological,Historical,Fiction - General,Ukrainians - Great Britain,Popular English Fiction,Young women,General,Domestic fiction,Romance - General Nominated for the Man Booker Prize “A charming comedy of eros . . . A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty.” — Los Angeles Times “Charming, poignantly funny.” — The Washington Post Book World 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous 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 aside a lifetime of feuding to save their émigré 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 . . . Nominated for the Man Booker Prize A charming comedy of eros . . . A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty. Los Angeles Times Charming, poignantly funny.#160; The Washington Post Book World 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous 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 aside a lifetime of feuding to save their migr 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 . . Sestri Vera in Nadežda se po smrti njune mame spreta zaradi dediščine, vendar se pobotata, ko se njun 84-letni oče namerava poročiti s 36-letno ukrajinsko blondinko. On sanja o očetovstvu, ona pa o britanskem potnem listu in prestižni šoli za svojega sina. Ali bo Valentina spravila senilnega očeta ob hišo in ves denar? Sestri združita moči, da bi ji to preprečili, starec pa odkrije nov konjiček: pisanje zgodovine traktorjev v ukrajinščini Putting aside a lifetime of rivalry when they learn that their recently widowed father is planning to remarry, sisters Vera and Nadezhda find themselves outmaneuvered by their father's scheming fiancée