A Short History of Tractors in UkrainianNominated 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 . . . |
Contents
Section 1 | 22 |
Section 2 | 53 |
Section 3 | 66 |
Section 4 | 83 |
Section 5 | 112 |
Section 6 | 126 |
Section 7 | 151 |
Section 8 | 176 |
Section 9 | 208 |
Section 10 | 214 |
Section 11 | 222 |
Section 12 | 242 |
Section 13 | 269 |
Section 14 | 278 |
Section 15 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
already apples arms baby beautiful believe brown Carter catch cigarettes comes course daughter don't door drive Dubov engine English everything eyes face father feel friends front garden give glasses gone hair hands happened head hear husband idea It's keep leave letter live look married mean Mike mind mother moved Nadezhda Nadia never Nikolai once Pappa pull realise remember round says seems side sister sitting smile solicitor someone Sometimes sound speak stand Stanislav started stay stop story sure talk telephone tell things thought told tractor turn Ukraina Ukrainian Valentina Vera village voice waiting wearing weeks window woman young