The Family Plays: A Double Bill

The Good Family
By Joakim Pirinen
Translated by Gregory Motton
The weather is wonderful, the sky is cloudless and Lasse is deliriously happy. His son is also over the moon, as are his wife and daughter. They are comfortably off, sexually satisfied, liberal, liberated and pretty well perfect. Everything is wonderful and probably always will be. This is a flat-packed comedy from the country that brought you Ikea.

The Khomenko Family Chronicles
By Natalia Vorozhbit
Translated by Sasha Dugdale
As Lyosha lies in hospital counting the days to his next birthday, his parents relate stories about the world outside and from their family history. Stories marked by significant dates, 26 April 1986 and 11 September 2001. A light-hearted and touching family portrait pitched against the darker milestones of global history.