New Year, new author. Russian author Alina Bronsky’s THE HOTTEST DISHES OF THE TARTAR CUISINE was on the “staff pick” shelf in a book store that I visited over Christmas weekend. I always check that area in a book store; not only do you get some good ideas, but it gives you a feel for the people working there.
The clerk warned me that it would appeal to anyone who had a dark sense of humor. Naturally I brought it home with me and found out that she was right.
Rosa Achmetowna has just learned that her seventeen-year -old daughter, “stupid Sulfa”, is pregnant and not aware of who the father is or how it happened. Rosa tries everything that she knows to avoid the birth, and some things that she is not sure about, but the baby is born. To Rosa’s delight baby Aminat is a true Tartar and becomes the most important thing in the new grandmother’s life. What follows is Rosa’s fight to win Aminat away from inept Sulfa.
It does not take the reader long to realize that maybe Rosa Achmetowna is not a very reliable narrator. Nobody around her lives up to her expectations of perfection; nobody except herself. Her husband Kalganow spends his time at work and in the nearby park contemplating death. Sulfa knows nothing about taking care of herself, let alone a baby. Her neighbor is fat and lazy. None of them will listen to her expert advice.
Through manipulation, bribes, and a sleazy German who has noticed Aminat - now a wild and willful teenager, Rosa gets herself, her daughter, and her granddaughter out of Russia and into Germany where the family truly disintegrates.
Bronsky tells her story through Rosa’s eyes. The humor is indeed very dark, but Rosa will teach the reader inventive ways to survive in a country where supplies are scarce and with a family that is not as brilliant at getting things done as she is.
One of the things that I liked about this book was that the translation from German to English was very well done. Too often translated books have a stiffness about them. The language in THE HOTTEST DISHES... stayed fresh and vital. The book was translated by Tim Mohr who sounds fascinating in his own right. He is a former Berlin club DJ and is co-author of IT'S EASY (AND OTHER LIES).
Alina Bronsky is a new, exciting voice that will be heard in the future. Her style is lean, her characters sharp, her humor subtle, and she develops a plot that keeps a reader turning the pages. It was a good Staff Pick.
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