Just about everyone portrayed in it inspires the sympathy of the reader except the Ukrainians, legal and illegal. But the novel is not so much written as constructed, and the same can be said of the characters. The rhythm and dynamics of this debut novel are well managed and Lewycka succeeds in creating many comic situations. Thus, in the end, all hope rests with the British legal system.
It is only when Valentina promises to speed up her husband's death that the old man agrees to file for divorce. The sisters telephone and write to the immigration authorities, but the bureaucrats are reluctant to get involved. On her rare appearances at home, the new wife bullies her elderly husband both physically and psychologically. Despite the best efforts of the two sisters, their father marries the young blonde. The only people capable of opposing this evil are two other women who have Ukrainian blood in their veins: Nikolai's daughters, who have long since become law-abiding British citizens. Thus we have a picture of an assiduous but utterly evil woman. She works very hard every day, illegally of course, in an old people's home, and she spends most of her nights with another Englishman. For Nikolai's part, this union inspires the return of sexual fantasies that are quite at odds with his physical capabilities. The marriage would also provide the opportunity of "oxfordcambridge education" for her teenage son, who has come with her to the UK. To get a British passport, she is prepared to marry an elderly man, Nikolai, for whom she has no affection.
What we are offered is the banal tale of a Ukrainian woman who enters the UK on a tourist visa and who is prepared to go to any lengths to remain in the country. Regrettably, however, this novel will not leave the reader any the wiser about the Ukrainian community in England.
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