Retrieved from: my "Advanced Readers Copy" source014306742, 2006
Suggested by: Arlene
My Ratings: 10 Merit, 9 Interest, 9 Fun
Imagine if your practical, sensible mother died and left your impractical, romantic father alone at age 82 after years of being around to kindly bully him into being reasonable and protecting him from himself.
Imagine if he met a woman who desperately needs (or wants?) to never have to return to the chaos and despair (and lack of fun?) that is the Ukraine.
Imagine if everyone in the world--except your father--knew what she was up to, and he married her. Imagine her being the exact opposite of your mother: profligate, wasteful, uninterested in long-term planning, and impatient. And given to wearing pink and shoving her "bosoms" in your flat-chested direction.
What would you do? How would you convince your father that he didn't need to "save" his wife, that he really should divorce her despite his idealism and refusal to see reality. How would you reconcile his right to make decisions for himself with the fact that he is being abused (although he generally doesn't seem to care)?
This sounds like a very depressing book, and to an extent it is, but the characters are very funny. You can't help laughing at Valentina's designation of her new husband's oldish vehicle as "Crap Car." And you have to feel some sense of pity for her: working two difficult jobs, faced with a husband who is living in another world, a preteen son, an uncertain future, and a present in which she feels victimized at every turn. She has such life! Even if her life is chaos and selfish.
There's a lot in here. This would be a good book to discuss in a group. And I'm wondering if "Toshiba apples" is a viable recipe....
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