If I judged book by their covers, I would give A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka 4 out of 5 stars for its simple design and colors—orange and blue on a paper-bag-brown colored cover. When judging the book, which was shortlisted for the Orange prize, on its merits as a novel, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

Thankfully A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is not all about tractors. The book is about an 84-year-old Ukrainian immigrant who finds “love” with Valentina, a 36-year-old woman with “Bottecelli breasts.” (We later learn that the breasts are bought and paid for.) The story is narrated by his youngest daughter Nadezhda who is less than enthusiastic about her brand-new gold-digging stepmother.

Soon after the odd couple meets in person, the 84-year-old has an extra bounce in his step and is walking on air because of the glow of love and the thrill of sleeping next to a young body. Because he is old and has his eyes closed to Valentina’s hidden motivations,  he remains ignorant about Valentina’s lover(s) and the fact that she is using him for a visa and cars. He is not rich and is living on a pension and savings from his wife, who is now deceased.

Throughout A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Nadezheda intersperses her narrative with stories of her father’s past hardships of the Ukraine; like most men in his age group, he talks (and exaggerates) too much about his past. He also writes a history of the tractor in the Ukraine—thus the title of the novel. Half of these stories were interesting; the other half were not. Some may view the stories as a clever literary device to show more about the Ukraine but I disagree, which why I had to rate the novel 3 out of 5 stars instead of more.

The story gets really interesting whenever Nadezheda and her sister Vera talk about Valentina; before Valentina came on the scene with her bodacious body, Nadezheda and Vera were fighting about their small inheritance from their mother. Strangely enough, gossiping about Valentina and plotting to get her kicked out of the country brings the two sisters closer together.

There aren’t many other characters in A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian; the old man’s grandchildren don’t figure largely in the novel and neither do many of the Ukrainian acquaintances the family has. Nadezheda’s husband Mike is in quite a few scenes, but doesn’t get many speaking parts. The narration—with the exception of some of the tractor parts—is engaging and lively throughout much of the book.