A long and bumpy road home?
This is the story of Lev, an economic migrant, who comes to England with the aim of making money to provide for his family. As readers, we follow Lev through all his ups and downs on a rather long and bumpy road home.
All of the characters in this book are well portrayed and original, most are fairly unattractive though a few have some redeeming features. We get to know Lev so well (even down to his toilet habits) that it’s hard to imagine we could ever forget him.
We also get to see England from the perspective of a financially strapped foreigner - a stranger in many ways. Lev sleeps rough, rents a room and even lives in a crumbling caravan whilst doing a variety of “gig economy” cash in hand work - picking vegetables, washing dishes, delivering leaflets. It is not a pretty picture but perhaps, a historically valuable snapshot of pre Brexit Britain.
If none of us are perfect, we can probably take comfort from Lev– he has quite a few flaws and treats women particularly shamefully. Despite his numerous shortcomings, he does have a strong value base and is, arguably, a product of his previous socio economic environment.
We don’t really get to know what he thinks about England, although he is no fan of the pretentious art scene. Most of the time he is too preoccupied with all the wonderful people he has left behind – his sadly deceased wife, and his best friend and hero, Rudi. Indeed, he is so steeped in the past he fails to make the most of the present or future.
Lev’s road home is a path littered with references to Hamlet (which none of us fully understood or appreciated - cultural philistines that we must be), interactions with other minority or socially excluded groups, and complex family relationships.
Lev’s story is a hard journey of self discovery and maturity which, after plummeting the depths, eventually becomes more positive in the final quarter. His prospects improve as he develops more self knowledge, self awareness, self confidence and self determination. A rite of passage for Lev with variable lessons for readers’ own lives – “to be or not to be”?.
In non pandemic England, this would be a great book group book – there are so many topics and controversies to explore and debate. Politics, religion, equality, crime, abuse, ageism, sexism, communism, capitalism etc etc. Indeed, it’s hard to think of an “ism” which wasn’t included. Despite this, there is no preaching nor judgement. With considerable skill, the author expertly ensures that the reader can draw their own conclusions about what or who is good or bad, and then only if they choose to so engage rather than simply turn the pages and enjoy the tale.
Throughout the book, there is a strong focus on food and restaurants (remember those?) - plenty of dining experiences which, in a pre-pandemic life, we could have recreated and, no doubt, thoroughly enjoyed.
Instead, during another UK lockdown, this was something to consider alone, eating a bacon sandwich whilst texting the group and reflecting on how lucky we are to speak English, to have a roof over our heads, to live in a democracy and not to have Lev as a sexual partner.
This was neither a light read, nor an easy read, but it was well written. A clever, memorable and thought provoking picture of humanity. It is easy to see why it has proved popular and why the author has won awards.
Our next read is a bestseller so expectations are running high – Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club.
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