Still Life: A GMA Book Club Pick
A Novel
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4.2 • 356 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick
A Veranda Magazine Book Club Pick
A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.
Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted 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 each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst 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 Ulysses returns home to London, reimmersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—he 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 beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
English author Sarah Winman’s writing dances on the line between poetry and prose. Her joyful and spellbinding fourth novel is set during World War II and the following decades, and tells the story of former English soldier Ulysses Temper, who, after a tour in Italy, receives an unexpected inheritance: a home in Florence. This gives his unorthodox family—including a child, a parrot, and an old friend—a place to begin again. Still Life feels both epic and intimate. It’s a startlingly beautiful, hugely original celebration of art, nature, and every kind of love.
Customer Reviews
Beautiful
Beautiful characters, language and lessons about chosen families and being brave
Still Life
Beautiful poetic story of life and the characters that fill it
Captivating
One of the most glorious books I’ve read in a while. Loved the theme and characters. I did not want it to end.