Books by Marina Lewycka

'Lively . . . a joy to read' - The Times*Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize*The bestselling author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is back in this hilarious, farcical, tender novel of modern issues and manners.North 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.A 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.A place rich in language - whether it's Romanian, Ukrainian, Russian, Swahili or buxom housing officers talking managementese.A place where husbands go absent without leave and councillors sacrifice cherry orchards at the altar of new builds.'Laugh-out loud' Daily Express'Insightful, witty and engaging, painting a picture of modern Britain that will be at once recognizable and enlightening' Stylist 'Entertaining and timely' Evening Standard

Marina Lewycka explores the clash of the generations in one extremely colourful family in her comic novel Various Pets Alive and Dead. For 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 . . .'Made me laugh at least once every chapter. Lewycka's fiction is unlike anything else around at present. The warmth of its zest, its blend of quirky, humane comedy and intellectual seriousness make this a novel to treasure' New Statesman'Wonderfully funny, inventive and witty. Fizzes along from beginning to end' Daily Express'Hilarious. Lewycka's trademark humour is present in abundance . . . she is not only witty but astute. A charming, beautifully observed novel' Independent on Sunday'Every bit as funny as A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian' Good HousekeepingBestselling author Marina Lewkyca has received great critical acclaim since the publication of her hilarious first novel A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian 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 novelsTwo Caravans (published as Strawberry Fields in the USA and Canada) and We Are All Made of Glue are also available from Penguin.

WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION WINNER OF THE SAGA AWARD FOR WIT 2005SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2005 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorc e. 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 . . .A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is bestselling author Marina Lewycka's hilarious and award winning debut novel. 'It's rare to find a first novel that gets so much right . . . Lewycka is a seriously talented comic writer' Time Out 'Hugely enjoyable...yields a golden harvest of family truths' Daily Telegraph 'Delightful, funny, touching' Spectator Bestselling author Marina Lewkyca has received great critical acclaim since the publication of her hilarious first novel A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian 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 Two Caravans (published as Strawberry Fields in the USA and Canada), We Are All Made of Glue and Various Pets Alive and Dead are also available from Penguin.

The abridged, downloadable audiobook of Marina Lewyckas astonishing second novel, Two Caravans, read by Sian Thomas. An idyll of the English countryside: a beautiful summers evening in a Kent field, and around their two caravans a little group of strawberry pickers is getting ready to celebrate a birthday. But who picks our strawberries these days? The Ukrainians: Irina, just off the coach from Kiev, and eager to improve her excellent English and find true love with a romantic Englishman; Andriy, the miners son from the other Ukraine; the Poles: Bob Dylan fan, Tomasz, (whose smelly trainers will soon punish those in the mens caravan), Yola, the petite, voluptuous gangmistress and her religious niece Marta, who finds the wild mushrooms to cook with the sliced loaf; then there is Vitaly, king of the new mobilfon world of the shiny new Eastern Europe; two Chinese girls; Emanuel, the round eyed eighteen-year-old from Malawi, come to England to look for his sister. And although he cant exactly help pick strawberries, theres also the Dog... But these are a group leading dangerous lives - exploitative employers, British regulations and gang masters with guns will all threaten their existence as they take to the caravan road until each of them peels off to find their destiny. Hilarious, gritty, moving, and slapstick by turns, Two Caravans has every bit of the extraordinary distinctiveness, wit and heart that made A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian so successful.

Der bliver ingen problemer, siger far. Han har forudset alle problemer. Han har kendt hende i tre måneder. Hun har en onkel i Selby og er kommet for at besøge ham på et nyt turistvisum i tre måneder. Hun vil skabe et nyt liv for sig selv og sin søn i Vesten, et godt liv, med et godt job, mange penge, dejlig bil – absolut ingen Lada eller Skoda – god uddannelse til sin søn, det skal være Oxford eller Cambridge, intet mindre. Hun er i øvrigt veluddannet. Har eksamensbevis som farmaceut. Hun kan let finde et velbetalt job her, når hun har lært engelsk. I mellemtiden hjælper han hende med engelsk, og hun gør rent i huset og tager sig af ham. Hun sidder på hans skød og giver ham lov til at gramse hende på brysterne. De er lykkelige sammen. Hørte jeg ret? Hun sidder på min fars skød, og han gramser hende på hendes fantastiske Botticelliske bryster? Det er faktisk svært at se.