I had read A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by the same author, and another one I can’t remember the name of, and really enjoyed them. I enjoyed this book too, but didn’t find it as funny as the other ones. It has its moments and I think I even laughed out loud a couple of times at the beginning. However, the plot then gets very involved in the housing market collapse and the banking crisis and there were often moments I didn’t really understand what was going on… A similar feeling to when I watched The Big Short. 

The plot revolves around a family and each member (apart from the dad…) has their own chapters where they tell their side of the story. Each character has their quirks (they are generally a very quirky family, they used to be in a commune) and none of them are hugely likeable, but they are believable. One character that the book portrays really well is Ollie-Anna, who has Down’s Syndrome. I haven’t before read a book where a main character has Down’s and it’s really interesting to see her through the other characters’ eyes. Unfortunately she doesn’t get her own chapters, I think it would be great to hear things from her point of view.

I would recommend this book as a light, easy read. Occasionally it mentions mathematical and financial terms that went over my head, but I tended to just brush past those! If you wanted to look things up, you might even learn something new!