The Gardener from Ochakov

Kurkov is a master story teller, using a simple lean style for a narrative that reads like a fable or myth, rich in invention, brought to life by the deadpan depiction of local people and local events * The Bay, Swansea * Kurkov masters the details superbly, writes with constant consummate wit and soufflé lightness -- Tom Adair * Scotsman * Some see him as a latter day Bulgakov; to others he’s a Urkanian Murakami… With a characteristic mix of realism and fantasy it [The Gardener from Ochakov] will delight fans… Kurkov combines the mundane details of life in modern Ukraine (minibus taxis, tins of sprats and bottles of moonshine) with surreal elements from thrillers and sci-fi: knife wielding gangsters, or quantum leaps in the midnight suburbs. The plot rattles along like a Kiev commuter train, regularly stopping for vodka, salami and salted cucumbers… -- Phoebe Taplin * Guardian * Quickly becomes an absorbing rollercoaster, an understated fantasy with an unlikely but likeable hero -- Matthew Dennison * The Times * More than a clash of ages… It’s also a tale about fathers and sons and what they need from each other -- Lesley McDowell * Glasgow Sunday Herald * Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin, has perfected a brand of deadpan magical realism; his latest reads like a mixture of Mikhail Bulgakov and a rejected script for the amiable 1990s sitcom Goodnight Sweetheart. Kurkov’s unadorned style accentuates the narrative’s simple, fable-like quality but The Gardener from Ochakov is thematically rich: one might read it as a reflection on the role of alcohol in Ukrainian society, or the no less pernicious effects of post-Soviet nostalgia -- David Evans * Financial Times *