We Are All Made of Glue, Marina Lewycka

Marina Lewycka has a way of bringing really interesting relationships to the page. In We Are All Made of Glue, copywriter Georgie, whose husband has just left home, forms an unlikely friendship with the glamorous bag lady down the street, Mrs Shapiro. When Mrs Shapiro is forcibly moved to a nursing home, Georgie attempts to come to her rescue, battling dodgy real estate agents, bossy hospital administrators and useless home renovators along the way.

There are some truly funny moments in We Are All Made of Glue, and Lewycka's strength as a writer is shown in the fact that these moments, as slapstick as they are, do not appear corny or contrived – they are genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.

As with her previous books, Lewycka's fascination with immigrants is evident (something I love about her work), with an underlying theme here being the attempt to understand the Israeli-Palestinian war. Depicting characters from both sides of the scene, this book is neither judgmental nor sit-on-the-fence, but really focuses on the effects of the fallout on the micro level of everyday human affairs.

Mature and genuine humour seems to be the hallmark of Lewycka's writing, and this is evident in We Are All Made of Glue. Highly recommended.