Brexit, Money laundering Geriatric sex in European crime caper

Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, in her new book, tackles money laundering and the state of Britain today in this vibrant novel.

Political divergences are central to the rift as George Pantis 79-year-old retired lecturer married for 35 years with a fondness for poetry and a roving eye, after waking out on his school teacher and Guardian-reading wife Rosie, on Referendum night in 2016 to shack up with hairdresser Brexit Brenda next door who owns two salons in town.  He thinks he’s got it made especially when he wins millions on a Kosovan lottery he only vaguely remembers entering, but forgot his password so can’t get his money which is a problem because he has to contend with lots of forceful new friends desperate to know his mother’s maiden name.

As things get out of hand, George must make a dash from Sheffield to the Adriatic and into the arms of Kosovan organised crime gangs who specialise in illegal kidney transplants and heroin smuggling. George is in need of urgent rescue but his sensible two grownup children Sid, Cassie ( leave supporters),  Brenda and Rosie put aside their differences long enough to help?

Rosie is irked by George shouting “Yes” at the telly that she locks the door on him when he nips out for a cigarette. Brenda who has a UKIP poster in her window and breasts like iced buns invites him in for a drink and has raw and elemental sex.

George soon realise that Brenda not only does she bangs on incessantly about hair products but her views are extreme. While stressing she is no evil racialist she admits that she voted Leave Party to keep the Muslim hordes outs.

The Take Back control message strongly resonates with George who is suffering from an increased loss of control in his personal life not only is his bladder malfunctioning, but he keeps receiving phone calls from people with Eastern European accents who tell him that he’s just won the Kosovan State Lottery and who want him to hand over his online banking details.

After George grows disillusioned with Brenda, he moves into a flat on his own where he is soon tracked down by the eastern Europeans. Eventually, George and a sexy blond eloping to Kosovo pursued by a newly reconciled Rosie and Brenda as well as gun-toting criminals.

The book is promiscuously inclined fixated on breasts and perplexed by complexities of the modern world.

 

 

 

The Good, the Bad and the Little Stupid by Marina Lewycka, Fig Tree £14.99, 272 pages.