Rating 5/5
Review:
Funny and sharply observed
I enjoyed this book very much. It is very funny in places, with elements of
farce thrown in, but it is also a sharp social commentary.
The story is told in two intercut voices. One is a first-person narrative by Bertie, a
fifty-something unsuccessful actor living with his aged mother whose death leaves Bertie with an insecure hold on the
tenancy of their ex-council flat and who allows Inna, an old Ukranian woman, to
move in and "impersonate" her.
The other voice is third person, from the point of view of Violet,
Bertie's new next-door neighbour who is a young woman of Kenyan descent who has
started a new job in a prestigious City firm.
Marina Lewycka uses the setting and characters to create a story of
modern wealth and poverty, how politics and corruption really affect people
both in the UK
and in Kenya.
The plot is, in a way, plain silly, but it worked for
me. The farce was a little broad at
times (a disastrous funeral was rather overdone, I thought) but it's generally
very good and I found it amusing and just believable enough to be rather
gripping. Lewycka's characters are well
drawn and she paints a convincing portrait of life and the people in a run-down
block, of wealth and poverty and how the greed of some and the indifference of
others can affect ordinary people. To
give a flavour, I liked this exchange between Bertie and Inna:
"I don't think Lenin and Khrushchev will make it to
heaven, Inna. Religion and politics have
slightly different rules."
"Not so different.
In my country first we have religion, everybody dead, then we get
communism, everybody dead, then we get religion again, still everybody
dead…"
And this one:
"It's a matter of democracy, Inna…"
"No democracy.
Only oliharki fighting against each other for who can make bigger
corruption. Some oliharki got friend wit
Mister Putin, some oliharki got friend wit Mister Cameron. But every oliharki got same big house in London,
inside wife blonde wit big titties, gangster wit big gun by door, and outside good
British policeman for protection."
I thought this was a very enjoyable read with some important
things to say which it did with a light but telling touch. Recommended.
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