Two Caravans

Critics

• If you want true insight, ask the dog

  Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka Fig Tree £16.99, pp320 'English men are supposed to be incredibly romantic. There is a famous folk-legend of a man who braves death and climbs in through his lady's bedroom window just to bring her a box of chocolates.' ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

• Poles apart

  Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka 320pp, Fig Tree, £16.99 "I have already started to think about the book I will write when I get back home," announces Irina, the Ukrainian heroine of Two Caravans. "But you have to have something interesting to write ab ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  On the verge of funny and dramatic, good story nicely written

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  Chiaragattinoni said on Jul 27, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  Marina Lewycka likes to weave a variety of themes into her very funny stories, sometimes successfully, as in A Short History of Tractors in Ukranien, sometimes less so, as in We Are All Made of Glue but she succeeds wonderfully in this novel, Two Caravans. Here, she covers pretty much the same subje ... (continue)

  Marina Lewycka likes to weave a variety of themes into her very funny stories, sometimes successfully, as in A Short History of Tractors in Ukranien, sometimes less so, as in We Are All Made of Glue but she succeeds wonderfully in this novel, Two Caravans. Here, she covers pretty much the same subjects as Rose Tremain did a few years ago in The Road Home but Lewycka's version is much more readable. They both feature migrant workers, mostly from eastern Europe, working for market gardeners, poultry factories, and restaurants in England. Some of the characters are wonderful - I especially loved "Dog".

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  Top of the pile said on Apr 10, 2012 | Add your feedback

• 

  Hilarious and tragic at the same time, a difficult combination but once again Marina Lewycka has carried it off. Another farcical tale of Ukranians and other immigrants trying to find a better life for themselves in Englands green and pleasant land.
  It starts in the Strawberry fields of Kent and a s ... (continue)

  Hilarious and tragic at the same time, a difficult combination but once again Marina Lewycka has carried it off. Another farcical tale of Ukranians and other immigrants trying to find a better life for themselves in Englands green and pleasant land.
  It starts in the Strawberry fields of Kent and a series of incidents lead our protagonists Andriy and Irina to Sheffield. It starts with a much larger group of immigrants but they gradually get left along the way until we are left with just the two. The original group being exploited by their employers and the criminal types that found them the work in the first place, decide to take the caravan they currently live in on the road to find their destinys. The motley group consists of Andriy, Ukrainian, son of a miner, Polish Tomasz, Vitaly, Yola, her niece Marta, all from EasternEurope, two Chinese girls, Irina who is fairly educated and is in England to improve her English, Emanuel from Malawi and of course the dog. The latter even narrates the story at times from a dogs point of view, strange but funny! It is on the road during various adventures whilst discovering the harsh realities of life that the group disperses all over England..

  Among the adventures are scenes in a poultry rearing unit, which makes disturbing reading if you are overly sensitive to such unpleaseant facts. Also making a brief appearance in a nursing home adventure is the old man Nikolai Mayevskyj from the authors first novel, a clever and amusing little touch. Fishing, restaurant work, and of course the initial strawberry picking scenes are also involved in this comical but poignant view of the illegal immigrant community in England.

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  Lindyloumac said on Jan 24, 2010 | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 320 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0141026995
• ISBN-13: 9780141026992
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Pub date: Mar 06, 2008
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Ελληνικά βιβλία

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