Various Pets Dead & Alive by Marina Lewycka - an interesting title by an author who writes books with interesting titles, such as "A short history of tractors in the Ukraine". This is how the BDS catalogue describes this book.
Clara, Serge and Oolie Anna (Ulyana) are the adult children of Marcus and Doro, ex-commune dwellers from way back. Clara strives for order, Serge for money and Oolie Anna for the right to live on her own. From communes to capitalism, chaos to conformity, the times are a changing, and so too are the dynamics of this intriguing family.
This was a fun meeting, with heaps of discussion about the various characters, the money industry, the commune and the way society worked at the time.
ReplyDeleteDuring the discussion, two books were mentioned. "Capital" by John Lanchester (see amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Capital-John-Lanchester/dp/0571234615 ) talks about the financial world in a post crash society.
Mary also mentioned "Lottery" by Patricia Wood, where a child who struggles to achieve deals with life after winning the lottery. See bds record of this book - http://bds.org.nz/books/catalogue.html?task=view&id=103111&catid=11
Both books sound like fantastic reads!