Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Strawberry Fields stands along the best of Zadie Smith and Monica Ali. It is sometimes outrageous, sometimes bawdy and constantly entertaining." Seattle Times
Review
"[A] comedy about a somber subject: the exploitation of migrant workers....But in Lewycka's picaresque version, comic nearly always beats tragic." Los Angeles Times
Review
"At a time when volcanic shifts in the global economy are creating new fissures between peoples and societies, Strawberry Field should be compulsory reading for anyone who wishes to delve into the human stories trapped within the cracks." St. Petersburg Times
Review
"Lewycka manages to rein in her sometimes sophomoric tone with wry insight. It is finally the author's keen understanding of how a global consciousness and labor market have come together with a changing European economy that gives this book its gravity and strength." Library Journal
Review
"The author's ambition is laudable. So is her skill in creating characters that flirt with ethnic commonplaces and then transcend them." Newsday
Review
"Some of the comic energy of the novel emerges from the difficulties characters encounter with the language barrier....Strawberry-sweet, but not too syrupy." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Lewycka's stylistic quirks can sometimes fall flat...but the jostle of voices creates an effervescent comedy, beneath which lies a more sombre look at the costs of globalization." New Yorker
Review
"Strawberry Fields contains bushels of food for thought. Its digestibility depends on the stomach of each reader." San Francisco Chronicle
About the Author
Marina Lewycka is the author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, which has been translated into 30 languages, has sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide, and was nominated for the Booker and Orange Prizes. She is married, with a grown-up daughter, and lives in England.