Reviews for Strawberry Fields

The average rating for Strawberry Fields based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-06-10 00:00:00 Mahesh Nayak This is a respectable follow-up from her first book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. I don't know why I'd describe it as light, when it involves prostitution, minimum wage, exploitation of 'unskilled' workers, not to mention the battery chicken farm episode which has put me off eating poultry for at least the next week. The East European accents may grate after a while, and some of the charming illegal immigrant workers are bordering on stereotypes, as are the pantomime baddies. But there are lots of astute points in there about immigration, Western consumerism, relationships, etc. etc. Not to mention an accurate insight into a dog's mind - ahh, poor dog - that was one of the sad bits. Perhaps the summer strawberry picking was a bit unrealistic too - she never mentions rain, it's all a bit Famous Five-like only on a sliced white bread diet. Oh, and Marta's inventive cooking on a limited budget had my mouth watering. Nice light easy read but some food for thought in there too.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-06-04 00:00:00 David McMahan I think Lewycka is incredible - she manages to write a novel about illegal immigrants, prostitution, exploitation, battery farming chickens... and make it funny without ever diminishing the horror - in fact it's because it's fun that we don't turn away or stop reading because it's unbearable. I thought the characters were wonderful and varied and the scenes more likely to win people over than a mass of outraged journalism or cold statistics. And the characters just go on living - the humour doesn't allow us to see them as victims even though we can feel sorry for them. Brilliant! I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed White Teeth.