“In my country they have proverb: ‘Beware
against the sweet person, for sugar has no nutrition.’ ” This was intriguing. Kate said, “Well, in my
country they say that you can catch more flies with honey than with
vinegar.”
I really like Anne Tyler's serene, tranquil yet poignant writing style. She is very good at describing families and people with all their qualities and weaknesses and this novel is very witty as well as superbly written. This is the story of a father who, thinking of doing a good thing for both his researcher and his daughter, try to match them up so he can obtain his green card to stay in the US.
Kate Battista, daughter, sister, nursery teacher is a very no non-sense person, quite blunt and direct and with little filters between what she thinks and what she says. Which is brilliant, I loved her, even if her attitude leads her to troubles in her workplace. Pyotr comes from a very different culture and his ways os expressing himself are hilarious. There are comic scenes in the novel between the family relatives that are very funny and witty. The book is apparently a modern remake of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, which I have never read so I cannot really comment on that.
Overall I really liked this novel, loved the main character and Tyler's writing style.
“It’s hard being a man. Have you ever thought
about that? Anything that’s bothering them, men think they have to hide it.
They think they should seem in charge, in control; they don’t dare show their
true feelings. No matter if they’re hurting or desperate or stricken with
grief, if they’re heartsick or they’re homesick or some huge dark guilt is
hanging over them or they’re about to fail big-time at something—‘Oh, I’m
okay,’ they say. ‘Everything’s just fine.’ They’re a whole lot less free than
women are, when you think about it.”
Overall rating: 7 Plot: 7 Writing style: 8 Cover: 6
Kate Battista is stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and infuriating younger sister Bunny?
Dr Battista has other problems. His brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, his new scientific breakthrough will fall through…
When Dr Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Will Kate be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round?
Dr Battista has other problems. His brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr, his new scientific breakthrough will fall through…
When Dr Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Will Kate be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round?
The Author:
Anne Tyler (born October 25, 1941) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. She has published 20 novels,Tyler resides in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, where most of her novels are set.
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