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The following is an excerpt from the book A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka Published by Penguin Books; March 2006;$14.00US/$20.00CAN; 0-14-303674-2 Copyright 2005 Marina Lewycka One Two phone calls and a funeral Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorce. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside. It all started with a phone call. My fathers voice, quavery with excitement, crackles down the line. Good news, Nadezhda. Im getting married! I remember the rush of blood to my head. Please let it be a joke! Oh, hes gone bonkers! Oh, you foolish old man! But I dont say any of those things. Oh, thats nice, Pappa, I say. Yes, yes. She is coming with her son from Ukraina. Ternopil in Ukraina. Ukraina. He sighs, breathing in the remembered scent of mown hay and cherry blossoms. But I catch the distinct synthetic whiff of New Russia. Her name is Valentina, he tells me. But she is more like Venus. Botticellis Venus rising from waves. Golden hair. Charming eyes. Superior breasts. When you see her you will understand. The grown-up me is indulgent. How sweet, this last late flowering of love. The daughter me is outraged. The traitor! The randy old beast! And our mother barely two years dead. I am angry and curious. I cant wait to see her, this woman who is usurping my mother. She sounds gorgeous. When can I meet her? After marriage you can meet. I think it might be better if we could meet her first, dont you? Why you want to meet? You not marrying her. (He knows somethings not quite right, but he thinks he can get away with it.) But Pappa, have you really thought this through? It seems very sudden. I mean, she must be a lot younger than you. I modulate my voice carefully, to conceal any signs of disapproval, like a worldly-wise adult dealing with a love-struck adolescent. Thirty-six. Shes thirty-six and Im eighty-four. So what? (He pronounces it vat.) There is a snap in his voice. He has anticipated this question. Well, its quite an age difference . . . Nadezhda, I never thought you would be so bourgeois. (He puts the emphasis on the last syllable -- wah!) No, no. He has me on the defensive. Its just that . . . there could be problems. There will be no problems, says Pappa. He has anticipated all problems. He has known her for three months. Excerpted from A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka. Reprinted by arrangement with The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copyright Marina Lewycka, 2005. Marina Lewycka was born of Ukrainian parents in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany, at the end of the war and grew up in England. She teaches at Sheffield Hallam University and is the author of six books on aspects of elder care. She is married with a grown-up daughter and lives in Sheffield. |
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