review by Brian Charles Clark
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Marina Lewycka
Penguin, 2006
Marina Lewycka’s first novel is a charming, funny and thoughtful gem of a book. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian riffs on themes that are going to stay topical for a long time to come, namely issues of immigration and aging. The story is simple, deceptively so: Pappa, in his eighties and two years a widower, has fallen in love with Valentina, a Ukrainian woman fifty years his junior. Valentina has large breasts and a penchant for “green satin bras.” Pappa has been rejuvenated by love-cum-lust, but his two daughters, Vera and Nadezhda, recognize a con-woman’s spell at work. Pappa and his wife came to England from Ukraine after World War Two where they raised their daughters; now Valentina wants to immigrate with her son—but she needs a visa, and marrying Pappa is her ticket to life in the “rich” West. Read the rest of this entry »