A review of The Good Life Elsewhere by Vladimir Lorchenkov

Cover

Moldova done.

Brilliant book. The premise is simple: Moldovans wanting out of their country. Serafim Botezatu wants out of Larga Moldova and wants to go to Italy. He dreams of Italy, yearns for Italy, studies Italy, is infactuated by Italy. And so are many other Moldovans. They move to Italy in search of higher paying jobs and so they can send money back home to poorest country in Europe. Throughout this book we meet strange and funny characters who come from different backgrounds and have different goals and ambitions. Vasily Lungu, Old Man Tudor, Stella, Father Paasi. All characters that make this book so enjoyable. And it turns out that the Italy that Serafim is so earnestly searching for can be found within each of us. We just need to look for it.

Moldova is Europe's poorest country and we often hear only negative things about this small country of four million but there is something to be said about it. Yes, its standards of living is drastically lower than the EU or USA but it is filled with people with hard working people with strong character. We could all use a little but of Moldovan energy when going through out daily lives. These people do not have as much as we do but are still happy and able to find joy in life.