Read Marina Lewycka’s Two Caravans
Modern Day Ukrainians and Polish in New Novel By Tractors Author
Ukrainian culture features again in Marina Lewycka's novel "Two Caravans", with a few Polish characters thrown in, following the life of immigrant workers in Britain.
Marina Lewycka, a British novelist with Ukrainian origins, has once again published a novel that gives us an insight into modern day Ukrainian culture, and this time has added some Polish characters to the mix.
Two Caravans: Marina Lewcyka’s New Novel
After the great success of her debut novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Lewycka has published a second novel, titled Two Caravans. The story does indeed begin with two caravans, and these house an eclectic bunch of strawberry pickers spending the summer in England, away from their homes in Ukraine, Poland, China and Africa.
The Plot of Two Caravans
Each of the characters in the novel are trying to save up some money to take home with them, and the problems they come up against are both interesting and telling; for example, because Poland has already joined the European Union, Polish workers are less sought after, because they tend to insist on getting the pay and conditions they’re entitled to as legal workers. The workers from the Ukraine, however, are more often subject to ultra-low wages and the issue of people smuggling for prostitution is even raised.
While this all sounds a little heavy, the novel is in fact more of a comedy, with interesting characters like Polish woman Yola, who comes to England every summer to pick strawberries and this year has brought her niece Marta with her. Irina and Vitaly are both from Ukraine and the novel follows their adventures most closely; through Irina’s thoughts, you can learn a lot about the beauties of the city of Kyiv and of Ukraine in general. There is also a great deal to read about the cultural differences with Ukraine, as Irina is a city girl and along with her family was very proactive in the Orange Revolution, while Vitaly is a miner’s son from Donbas. This cultural clash just goes to remind us that it’s not only different nationalities that have problems to overcome, but also different classes and peoples within a country.
Should You Read Two Caravans?
If you’ve enjoyed A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, then the chances are good that you’ll get some pleasure from reading Two Caravans, too. While parts of the story seem a bit incomplete, and the characters aren’t quite as memorable as those in Tractors, it’s still an interesting insight into eastern Europe and the relationship with the west in the time of an expanded European Union.
