Couldn’t get into this one so have put aside for now, I think it has quite a detached style inherent in the narrative style - I found the story conceptually intriguing, but wasn’t feeling like enough of the characterisation was coming together to draw me in completely.

Will retry this another time as I have heard reviews that make me think I’ll enjoy this story when it starts clicking for me. (Disregard star rating used here)

Lucky is aiming to relaunch the iconic restaurant/cafe he lost to a combination of gambling and personal tragedy in the 90’s. Old and broke, he wants to make up for his mistakes, and leave something for the family he has left.
Having recently lost her job and her husband, Emily is in Sydney from London with an eye to writing a New Yorker feature about the rise and fall of ‘Lucky’s’, once an ubiquitous chain of restaurants/cafes across south eastern NSW.

I was drawn to the story it was so interesting, the plot is mainly focusing of the ups and downs of life and the relationships we go through.
Lucky and Emily were such unique characters when they hope, you hope with them. Their flaws? you love them it's what makes them so relatable.

5 stars.

Lucky's was a bittersweet read - family, love and laughter and violence and tragedy. Its the story of the rise and fall of a Greek-Australian-American style café franchise and its eponymous owner.
Decades later, Lucky and Emily are both looking for a new beginning. Emily seeks out Lucky seeking answers about her father's life and also hoping to write a story that will revive her career. Lucky too, is searching for redemption - and he has a plan to rebuild his empire.
I read Lucky's over a period of weeks - my engagement flagged midway through - a strong beginning and a lovely finish. I loved the Wheel of Fortune storyline.
Recommended. Thanks for the opportunity to provide a review.

3.5★
“2002. He still had time to make changes. Not to his nickname, which he could never shake, and not to his appearance, and there was little prospect of changing the flaws in his character, since the time had passed for great internal transformations, but Vasilis ‘Lucky’ Mallios supposed he could fix his own story—to be specific, how it ended.”

This is the opening paragraph of the book. The year 2002 is also the year that Emily, a writer (subeditor, as her mother insists on calling her) flies from her home in London to Sydney to research an article for 'The New Yorker' (she hopes). Her mother was born and raised in Australia, but Emily has only ever visited as a child, and that did not go well.

I could keep track of Emily’s story, but I seemed to have a terrible time with the other characters on Lucky’s side of the background. The year of the action is given at the beginning of many chapters, but even referring back to them didn’t seem to orient me very well.

I often read books with multiple timelines, but for some reason, I began confusing the characters, the young men with their older selves, the women and wives and daughters with each other. The first Greek migrant in the book arrives in Sydney in 1913, and from there the action moves back and forth before and after WW2, to the 1960s and to 2002.

Emily wants to know about her real father, but her mother wouldn’t talk about him.

“At home, in her bedroom, hung a small painting of a Lucky’s restaurant, a picture made by her late father, copied from a postcard, and given to Emily for her seventh birthday.”

That’s enough to inspire her to set off to Sydney. The story bounces around between how the first Lucky’s was built (not called Lucky’s), how Lucky happened to end up with it, and what happened to the various families.

There are several descriptions which struck me as if they’d been saved to work into a piece of writing, but they seemed to be trying too hard.

“The expansive new apartment complex opposite looked like a tower with its pockets turned out. Lucky’s own building reminded him of a motor inn.
. . .
The terrace houses were painted egg-carton colours. Each of the pre-tuned radio stations shouted at her. Lucky lived under the flight path, on a long street in the suburb of Tempe. The parked cars were the colour of dirty running shoes.
. . .
Lucky lived in a four-storey apartment building with shirt-pocket balconies of rendered concrete.”

I’m sure this book will find many fans, and I can imagine a film version of it with a cast that would separate the characters for the likes of me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan/Picador for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.

Lucky’s - Andrew Pippos

“The family’s olive tree kept growing up and up as if made from magic left over from childhood.”

Spanning decades, Lucky’s is an evocative family saga grounded in post war Sydney. A true literary work interwoven with love, tragedy and humanity. Andrew Pippos has created a heartwarming ode to migrant Australia, and to the people who helped to shape our national identity.

The story centres around Vasilis ‘Lucky’ Mellios, a Greek-American Air Force mess steward, stationed in Sydney during WW2. At the core of this novel is love and connection, and Lucky falls for Valia Asproyerakas the daughter of cafe owner, Achilles. So begins the story of Lucky’s Cafe franchise, its rise and fall, and the enduring love that Lucky has for both Valia and his Greek-Australian cafes.

Along the way we are introduced to a cast of family, friends and strangers, with intersecting storylines and unexpected connections. Pippos has shaped strong, passionate yet fragile characters, and several who manage to be simultaneously captivating and polarising. I found myself mesmerised by the tenderness of the story, and drawn back again and again to the magical prose. The twists and turns woven into the narrative were surprising and engaging - yet sometimes unsettling - showcasing the skill with which this novel is crafted. Several times I was forced to stop and take a moment, then reread a scene that had taken my breath away.

The recurring themes of family scandals, secrets, tragedy, redemption and reinvention are mirrored through the experiences of most of the main players. Each person we meet has a story to tell and is given their own voice with a pace and structure that allows the reader to appreciate their contribution.

Pippos writes with hypnotic charm, his characters are brought to life with care and I was invested in awaiting a happy ending for each of them. The Greek-Australian cafe, with its gleaming chequerboard floors, jukebox and soda fountain form the backdrop and a very vivid touchstone to Australia’s post war era, when the influence of enterprising migrant families began to leave an enduring mark on the culture of modern Australia.

Lucky and his story will stay with me for a long time, I look forward with anticipation to whatever Andrew Pippos has in store for us next.

This book has it all; love, hate, sin, redemption, tragedy, and even some joy. Emily leaves London to interview Lucky, a former restaurant franchiser, for a New Yorker article. Lucky's tale unfolds in flashbacks and forwards, finally unraveling the story of his life. I was immediately drawn into Emily's life and wish there had been more about her. However, Lucky and the other characters are all so well-developed and intertwined that I found myself reading non-stop to get the entire picture. This is a great addition to Australian literary fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.