Still Life: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel) (Large Print / Paperback)
Staff Reviews
A group of English expats create a found family and find happiness in their artistic endeavors under the Tuscan sun in this big-hearted play on EM Forster’s novel, A Room with a View. The story’s focus is an intergenerational friendship between Ulysses, a soldier, and Evelyn, an art historian, whose chance encounter in World War II is followed by a number of near misses. At first, it’s hard to follow the vast tapestry of characters, but Winman does such a good job at creating emotionally compelling lives for each of them that by the end, it’s hard to imagine the dramatis personae being even one person (or parrot) short. A soul-satisfying treat!
— Daniel GoldinNovember 2021 Indie Next List
“This is one of those books that captured my heart and would not let go — the characters will stay with you for a long time. A makeshift family story covering several decades is beautifully developed and oh so funny and tender.”
— Jude Sales, Readers' Books, Sonoma, CA
Description
From acclaimed author of Tin Man, Sarah Winman, comes a captivating new novel of people brought together across four decades of love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster.
Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English solder, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a Tuscan villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth in Florence, her lost love, and a surprising friendship with a young E. M. Forster.
In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amongst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades. As he returns home to the East End of London, reimmersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parrot--a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics--Ulysses carries his time in Italy with him. And when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate and returns to the Tuscan hills.
With gorgeous prose and extraordinary tenderness, Still Life is a richly drawn tapestry of the individuals who come together to make a family, and a sweeping portrait of beauty and love.
About the Author
SARAH WINMAN is the author of three previous novels, Tin Man, A Year of Marvelous Ways, and When God Was a Rabbit. She grew up in Essex and now lives in London. She attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and went on to act in theatre, film, and television.
