A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian

En el viaje de ida me terminé "A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian" de Marina Lewycka. Es una novela muy entretenida de puteríos familiares escrita con gracia. Ya el primer párrafo nos da una buena idea de lo que se va a venir.

Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukranian 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-offmemories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside.

Las enemistadas hijas de Nikolai, Vera y Nadia, se irán aliando en tramas y planes a medida que sus peores temores sobre la situación se van confirmando...

So Mother's little legacy stayed in a bank, and after that my sister and I didn't talk to each other for two years, until a common enemy brought us together.

A fortnight later Valentina gets a leter from the Home Office. Her application for leave to stay in Britain has been refused. The inspector has found no evidence of genuine marriage. She flies into a rage at my father. 'You foolish idiot man. You giving all wrong answer'.

Mientras tanto, en el presente Nikolai (ingeniero retirado) tiene un proyecto que mantiene su ilusión a pesar de todo... terminar su libro sobre la historia de los tractores.

A pesar de que el tono general es muy gracioso, entre los vaivenes de la historia, Nadia va descubriendo a través de Vera muchas cosas de la historia de sus padres y ella (su hermana mayor) que nunca supo, "cosas tristes del pasado" por las cuales huyeron de Ucrania y que siempre prefirieron no recordar...

I had thought there was a happy story to tell about my parent's life, a tale of triumph over tragedy, of love overcoming impossible odds, but now I see that there are only fleeting moments of happiness, to be seized and celebrated before they slip away.