A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

by Marina Lewycka

In this humorous family drama—which was a major bestseller on release in 2005—two feuding sisters join forces to see off a glamorously unsuitable suitor for their widower father. It was named the ‘funniest book of the last 25 years’ when it won the Vintage Bollinger Prize in 2025. Peter Florence, co-founder of the Hay Festival and chair of the judges, said they came to the book fresh eyes and still found its humour fresh. Lewycka “has us at the title,” he said, “and she rocks us on every page. And it’s a book that is reshaped by the 20 years since it was first published, by both the history of Ukraine and the story of refugee experience in the UK. The comedy is somehow both darker and more vivid.”