Sisters Vera and Nadia start to worry when their elderly father marries a well-endowed Ukranian asylum seeker who seems to be after his money. Although not on the best of terms themselves, they join forces to try and help him. Tractors is one of those strange little books which crops up every so often, captures the imagination and slowly builds up a cult following. It's a book I've been meaning to read for a while now, so when my dad got hold of a second hand copy, I borrowed it for him. It's easy to see why Tractors has attracted such attention, as it's a wonderfully well-written, entertaining book. The basic plot (warring sisters unite to save ...  Read the complete review

PLOT Warring sisters Vera and Nadia unite when their elderly widower father (Nikolai) announces he is to marry a young, blonde, well endowed Ukrainian woman who is seeking asylum. Despite their best efforts, their father marries the dreaded Valentina and the plot follows the chaos that ensues. There are also chapters that detail the history of Nadia's family as they move from the Ukraine to the UK. The story is intersperced with chapters which are literally about the history of tractors in the Ukraine. Nikolai, who was an engineer, is writing a book about tractors which Nadia is translating into English for him. At first glance its tempting to skip these ...  Read the complete review

I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to read "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" by Marina Lewycka, I had read her second book "Two Caravans" and found her style of writing a little strange. However a friend at work recommended it and lent me her book so I thought I would give it a try. Firstly the title of the book is rather misleading it's not really all about the history of tractors although they do make appearances right through the book. Instead it is a story about Nikolia an elderly Ukrainian gentleman in his 80s who is now living in England. His wife died two years ago and his daughters who don't get on with each other since the ...  Read the complete review

An elderly gentleman gets tangled up with a well endowed Ukranian asylum seeker who is only out for his money. At least this is what he is daughters think. They don't get along very well butt hey get together to stop There are a lot of characters in this book including the pub landlord and the buxom ladies' son, not to mention the relative she brings over from the Ukraine. (Don't want to spoil the story here.) The book is written in a very readable style and the author knows how to tell a good tale. It's witty and funny in parts, yet all the characters and events are completely believable. Author Marina Lewycka ...  Read the complete review

I really expected to enjoy this book. Everything about it seemed pleasingly quirky, and all the reviews I'd seen promised it to be some kind of hilarious adventure with outrageous gold-digging and other hi-jinks. The story is simple - a Ukranian economic migrant tries to muscle her way into marrying a frail old man, and his daughters attempt to stop it. That's pretty much it. What shocked me is that it's billed as a comedy, as this book is in no way funny. If anything it was a little harrowing and depressing - time after time the elderly father, the target of the gold-digger, is harrassed, abused and humiliated. Oh ho ho, he's soiled himself! How I ...  Read the complete review