A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

A book that was recently recommended to me was A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Thanks Mrs. Reid) and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and can see why it was short listed for the Orange Prize and won so many others. Whenever I am reading a novel, I always note down any pieces of writing that I particularly like. I should like to share with you two pieces I particularly liked from Tractors:

We sit awkwardly around the table. Stanislav is the only one who appears to be relaxed. He tells us about his new school, his favourite teacher, his least favourite teacher, his favourite football team……He is perfectly at ease. No one else says anything. The heavy weight of all the unsaid things bears down on us like storm clouds. Outside, a few drops of rain fall and we hear thunder in the distance. My father closes the window. Stanislav carries on talking.

And:
We arrive at about three o’clock on the Saturday afternoon. It is mid-October. The sun is already low in the sky, and a fenland mist shrouds the countryside in a damp haze, lingering around the low-lying fields and marshes, stealing like a wraith out of drainage culverts and watercourses. The leaves have started to turn. The garden is thick with windfalls, apples, pears and plums, over which a cloud of small flies hovers.