Reading the World discussion

From the publisher: "Government warnings about radiation levels in her hometown (a stone’s throw from Chernobyl) be damned! Baba Dunja is going home. And she’s taking a motley bunch of her former neighbors with her. With strangely misshapen forest fruits to spare and the town largely to themselves, they have pretty much everything they need and they plan to start anew.

... Life is beautiful. That is until one day a stranger turns up in the village and once again the little idyllic settlement faces annihilation.

From the prodigiously talented Alina Bronsky, this is a return to the iron-willed and infuriatingly misguided older female protagonist ... Here she tells the story of a post-meltdown settlement, and of an unusual woman, Baba Dunja, who, late in life, finds her version of paradise."

The book is translated from the German, where the author now lives. She was born in Russia. The book setting is the Ukraine.

So, I read this a few days ago. And I loved it. Anyone else joining in?

I read it, also and thought it was great! Then I read "Grandmother's Braid" by the same author,pretty good; love the humor.

I read it and also loved it. The author manages to stew themes around home, family, and independence for the elderly, in the confines of a short tale. The characters are alive and full of flaws that don't hurt the reading about them, or at least for the most part.
We also get to reflect on the extreme damage we have done to our planet, not just in the shadow of Chernobyl but in all urban areas where simply eating can be a poisoning. And Baba herself; I just loved her even if she made some "unusual" judgement calls.

K wrote: "I read it, also and thought it was great! Then I read "Grandmother's Braid" by the same author, pretty good; love the humor."

Oh glad to hear! I have a few other of her books on my "want to read" shelf, including The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, My Grandmother's Braid, and Barbara Isn't Dying (which is going to make me ugly sob, so I have to save that for a time I know I'll be home for a few days!)

Gail wrote: "... I just loved her even if she made some "unusual" judgement calls..."

I kept thinking throughout the reading if I would brave enough (or crazy enough) to do what she did. I know I'm not brave enough! 🙃