''We Are All Made of Glue'' is English novelist

Marina Lewycka Marina Lewycka ( ; born 12 October 1946) is a British novelist of Ukraine, Ukrainian origin. Early life Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England; she now lives in Sheffield, South ...

's third novel, published in 2009. The book follows the friendship of Georgina, a recently separated middle-aged freelance journalist and Mrs Shapiro, an elderly lady who lives with seven cats in a dilapidated North London mansion.

Plot summary

Georgina Sinclair is a freelance journalist, who makes a living contributing to

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective term ...

s. Her main work is with the journal "Adhesives in the Modern World", which features articles about

Epoxy resins Epoxy is the family of basic components or Curing (chemistry), cured end products of epoxy Resin, resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide fun ...

and other aspects of gluing. After her lawyer husband Euripides "Rip" Sinclair walks out of the marriage, Georgina finds herself involved with elderly neighbor Mrs Shapiro, a 92-year-old Jewish emigre, who lives in a smelly and decrepit North London mansion. The house is a desirable property, and secondary characters including social workers and real estate agents seek to gain its sale for their own profit. Amidst the dark humour about aging and loneliness, serious issues about the Holocaust and the displacement of Palestinians are raised.

Critical reception

''We Are All Made of Glue'' was described as an "uneasy mix" of suburban themes and politics. The "glue"

conceit An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact be ...

was criticised as somewhat glib and flippant in light of the political matters raised in the novel.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2009 British novels Novels set in London Penguin Books books