{"title":"Books by Marina Lewycka","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780241961827","title":"A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE AWARD-WINNING, MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA hilarious, lively, moving and compassionate debut about one\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e Ukrainian-British family\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003etumultuous relationship and the history they never knew. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Delightful, funny, touching'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eSpectator\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"As Romeo and Juliet found to their cost, marriage is never just about two people falling in love, it is about families.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSisters Vera and Nadezhda must aside a lifetime of feuding to save their widowed, tractor-obsessed Ukrainian father from the voluptuous, wealth-obsessed Valentina. With her proclivity for green satin underwear and boil-in-the-bag cuisine, she outmanoeuvres the sisters at every turn. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut their campaign to oust Valentina unearths family secrets, uncovers fifty years of European and Ukrainian history, and sends them back to roots they'd much rather forget . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Hugely enjoyable . . . yields a golden harvest of family truths'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e'Captures the peculiar flavour of Eastern European immigrant life\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003cb\u003ea very rich mixture indeed' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'It's rare to find a first novel that gets so much right . . . Lewycka is a seriously talented comic writer' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime Out\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201709375666,"sku":"9780241961827","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241961827_4f32ffbe-9479-46c4-82f2-9137cc8c3e24.jpg?v=1786012541"},{"product_id":"9780141044958","title":"The Lubetkin Legacy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Lively . . . a joy  to read' - \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNorth London in the twenty-first century: a place where a son will swiftly adopt an old lady and take her home from hospital to impersonate his dear departed mother, rather than lose the council flat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA time of golden job opportunities, though you might have to dress up as a coffee bean or work as an intern at an undertaker or put up with champagne and posh French dinners while your boss hits on you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA place rich in language - whether it's Romanian, Ukrainian, Russian, Swahili or buxom housing officers talking managementese.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA place where husbands go absent without leave and councillors sacrifice cherry orchards at the altar of new builds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarina Lewycka is back in this hilarious, farcical, tender novel of modern issues and manners.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224304922997,"sku":"9780141044958","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141044958_140422ce-9765-4ae2-b7ec-6ebf3c7e5daa.jpg?v=1786011067"},{"product_id":"9780241430323","title":"The Good, the Bad and the Little Bit Stupid","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA LAUGH-OUT-LOUD NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF \u003ci\u003eA SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTORS IN UKRAINIAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter walking out on his wife to shack up with 'Brexit Brenda' next door, George Pantis thinks he's got it made - especially when he wins millions on a Kosovan lottery he barely remembers entering.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnfortunately, he can't access the money because he's forgotten his password. What is he meant to tell all the forceful people who keep appearing at his doorstep desperate to know his mother's maiden name?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe situation is shadier than he thinks, and George is need of rescue. But will his dysfunctional family be able to save him, and in the process, can they save each other?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Lewycka has carved out a reputation for tackling Big Topics with wit and humour'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eRadio Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Warmly funny' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Her state-of-the-nation novel crackles with zingy one-liners and shrewd humour'\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56229583847797,"sku":"9780241430323","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241430323_c53b5aa5-bc8e-4d2e-b3f4-b3d1712ed703.jpg?v=1786012746"},{"product_id":"9780241961841","title":"Two Caravans","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTwo Caravans\u003c\/i\u003e is the hilarious and engaging second novel from bestselling author Marina Lewycka.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA field of strawberries in Kent...\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And sitting in it are two caravans - one for the men and one for the women. The residents are from all over: miner's son Andriy is from the old Ukraine, while sexy young Irina is from the new: they each other warily. There are the Poles, Tomasz and Yola; two Chinese girls; and Emauel from Malawi. They're all here to pick strawberries in England's green and pleasant land.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But these days England's not so pleasant for immigrants. Not with Russian gangster-wannabes like Vulk, who's taken a shine to Irina and thinks kidnapping is a wooing strategy. And so Andriy - who really doesn't fancy Irina, honest - must set off in search of that girl he's not in love with.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Immensely appealing. All but sings with zest for life...could hardly be more engaging, shrewd and winningly perceptive' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Extremely funny, closely observed insights, scenes of farce, tragedy and horror' \u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Hilarious and horrifying, \u003ci\u003eTwo Caravans \u003c\/i\u003eis funny, clever and well observed' \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bestselling author Marina Lewkyca has received great critical acclaim since the publication of her hilarious first novel \u003ci\u003eA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian\u003c\/i\u003e in 2005, which was the winner of the Bollinger Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction 2005, winner of the Saga Award for Wit 2005, shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2005 and longlisted for the Booker prize 2005. Her other humorous novels \u003ci\u003eWe Are All Made of Glue \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eVarious Pets Alive and Dead \u003c\/i\u003eare also available from Penguin. \u003ci\u003eTwo Caravans \u003c\/i\u003eis published as \u003ci\u003eStrawberry Fields \u003c\/i\u003ein the USA and Canada.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56230842499445,"sku":"9780241961841","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241961841_c3a136e2-0475-42d3-9ce6-7757234af32f.jpg?v=1786012542"},{"product_id":"9780241981443","title":"A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eis bestselling author Marina Lewycka's hilarious and award winning debut novel, now available as a Penguin Essential for the first time. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcée. 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.' \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSisters 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut 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 . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'It's rare to find a first novel that gets so much right . . . Lewycka is a seriously talented comic writer'  \u003ci\u003eTime Out\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Hugely enjoyable . . . yields a golden harvest of family truths' \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Delightful, funny, touching' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSpectator\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56231169982837,"sku":"9780241981443","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780241981443_414e0db1-f133-4de1-8d74-34e701879ffc.jpg?v=1786012881"},{"product_id":"9781910974230","title":"Refugee Tales","description":"\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56309064532341,"sku":"9781910974230","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781910974230_96bde2f4-0c10-444f-bc93-d2289ce21b89.jpg?v=1786029558"},{"product_id":"various-pets-alive-and-dead","title":"Various Pets Alive and Dead","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLentils, free love, radical politics and family truths . . . \u003ci\u003eVarious Pets Alive and Dead\u003c\/i\u003e is the wonderfully funny fourth novel from Marina Lewycka, author of the bestselling \u003ci\u003eA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eFor twenty years Doro and Marcus lived in a commune, convinced lentils and free love would change the world. They didn't. What they did do was give their children a terror of radicalism, dirt, cooking rotas and poverty. Their daughter Clara wants nothing less conformist than her own, clean bathroom. Their son Serge hides the awkward fact that he's a banker earning loadsamoney. So when Doro and Marcus spring a surprise on their kids - just as the world is rocked in ways they always wished for - the family is forced to confront some thorny truths about themselves . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Wonderfully funny . . . a dizzy, eye-watering treat . . . Lewycka is somewhere between Hilary Mantel in her satirical mode and Sue Townsend'  \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Thank heavens for Marina Lewycka whose \u003ci\u003eVarious Pets Alive and Dead\u003c\/i\u003e me laugh at least once in every chapter . . . The warmth of its tone, its zest, its blend of quirky, humane comedy and intellectual seriousness make this a novel to treasure'  \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Marina Lewycka's latest novel is wonderfully funny with moments of pure farce in the best tradition of social satire . . . this inventive and witty book fizzes along from beginning to end'  \u003ci\u003eDaily Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMarina Lewycka was born in Kiel, Germany, after the war, grew up in England and lives in Sheffield. Her first novel, \u003ci\u003eA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian\u003c\/i\u003e, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, longlisted for the Man Booker and won the Bollinger Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction and the Waverton Good Read Award. Her second novel, \u003ci\u003eTwo Caravans\u003c\/i\u003e, was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. \u003ci\u003eA Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTwo Caravans\u003c\/i\u003e and Marina's third novel, \u003ci\u003eWe Are All Made of Glue\u003c\/i\u003e, are all available in Penguin\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466593673589,"sku":"9780141044941","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141044941.jpg?v=1785654651"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-marina-lewycka.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}