Strange book. Some of it was all Bridget Jones-style wacky where you have access to the character's inner life, sex life and embarrassments. The whole first part seemed to be about terrible odours, filthy bodies and cat poop (the main character befriends a cat lady). There is then a mystery about the cat lady's past. And then there was a whole thing about understanding Arab-Israeli conflict. Am I supposed to take this seriously? Am I supposed to be amused? Not sure. I adore Marina Lewycka and her ability to turn the ordinary into something humorous and observational. Quietly exposing the ridiculous and examining the moments within a life. However in this book as much as I loved the characters themselves, Naomi was just excellent, the story had so many little parts that it read disjointed and strange. Slow even at times and nowhere near as funny as her other books. As I said I adore her so I will continue to read her books but this for me was not quite her usual brilliance.
Was expecting it to be better - but very readable and quite different - give it a try.
—Ali
Didn't think it came up to the standard of 'Tractors' but still a good read.
—missy
Not as good as the tractor history book. It was ok though
—steve
quite funny!
—Vandana
