I don't think Sarah Winman's writing is for me. I really can't get on with that kind of choppy, barely-any-description kind of writing, much less try to read it for hundreds upon hundreds of pages. Sadly a miss for me.

STILL LIFE begins as World War ll is coming to an end. A young British soldier Ulysses Temper is traveling through Italy with his unit. Here he meets Evelyn Skinner an art historian who has come to Italy to rescue paintings from the war torn countryside.
Despite the age difference Evelyn and Ulysses become quick friends. She shares her love of art and he is an eager student.
The war ends and both return to England. Ulysses heads back to east London.
He takes a job at his neighbourhood bar The Stoat and Parrot. The bar is full of an interesting cast of characters which includes Peggy the woman Ulysses married before he was sent overseas. The story continues through the postwar years.
STILL LIFE is a phenomenal story. The characters are engaging and this includes a parrot named Claude who gets some of the best lines in the book. The story follows significant world events and how they impact on Ulysses and company.
After reading a few chapters I knew STILL LIFE was going to be a book I was going to love. I loved it from the first page to the last. I think it would make an excellent book club selection. I will be recommending STILL LIFE to anyone who will listen.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced digital edition of this book.

If you’re anything like me and enjoy stories with a city as one of the central characters, then Still Life by Sarah Winman will definitely be for you. Florence, Italy features throughout this story as it welcomes those to be enchanted and return again.

At the end of World War Two, a brief meeting between a young British Soldier and an experienced Art Historian in the rolling hills of Tuscany leaves a lasting impression. As they both resume their lives after the war, that fateful evening is never forgotten. Returning to England, young Ulysses introduces us to a cast of characters that circle his life at The Stoat and Parrot Pub. The parrot, Claude, has to be the most memorable character, quoting Shakespeare and providing unlikely, but insightful advice as he follows his pub family from London to Florence. Evelyn introduces us to the loves of her life, but none who will ever be able to help her forget her first love when she came of age in Florence.

At first glance, a dysfunctional group of characters, their bonds are what bind their stories together and leave a lasting impact on the reader, at times humourous, and at other times heartbreaking. Throughout the years, Ulysses and Evelyn somehow fail to cross paths and what will happen if they meet again? Florence, art, and relationships are at the heart of this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Still Life was such a nice escape from all the worries and stresses of December 2021. Even though the topics that this novel touches on are not gentle, it felt like a gentle read because you are being enveloped into these characters' lives. Reading this book made me want to move to Italy! I've recommended it to many people already. Also, this cover is one of the best of 2021...just gorgeous.

Set in the UK and Italy during the middle and late twentieth century, Still Life follows people connected with a London pub: Col, his daughter Ginny, Cressy, Pete the pianist, a parrot and many more.

Winman has written a story which explores the love for people and places, over time and distance and even after they’ve gone. Still Life asks us to think about what makes a family and to consider what things are worth holding on to, fighting for, and giving up for. There are moments both humorous and macabre as well as poignant and heart-warming.

There’s an appreciation for both the enduring nature of art but also its impermanence. In this love letter to Florence, Still Life asks questions about who gets to make art, whose art is revered, and whose art, while not in a museum or in the theatre, brings joy to people on a daily basis.

Still Life is one of those very visually evocative books that makes you feel like you’re reading a script or even that maybe you’ve seen this film already but just can’t remember which one it was and it makes me wonder if an adaptation will be forthcoming. Unsurprisingly, scenes from the film of A Room With a View frequently slid through my mind (Forster is an important touchstone in the book). The images Winman created in my mind were bathed in a warm, faded polaroid palette and peopled by characters with memorable faces (think of the film Amelie).

At the beginning I found myself wondering if Still Life was just a little *too* quirky and twee for my liking as it has a Wes Anderson kind of feel to it (which you tend to like or you don’t) but in the end, it had wormed its way into my heart and I was rooting for this community of characters to find love and be happy. An enjoyable read, especially if you’re looking for something to settle into on a cold winter’s night.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Delighted to include this engrossing work in the November edition of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s best fiction picks for Zoomer magazine’s Books section. (review at link)

This book is a gorgeous ode to Florence, to friendship and to the messiness and beauty of life. Winman's language and character portrayals are engrossing, and I enjoyed the read very much. The only reason it wasn't a five-star read for me was that at times I felt the plot was meandering - which may be true to life, but I enjoy fiction that's more tightly plotted.
I'll definitely be recommending this to fans of Winman, historical fiction, A Room With a View, Italy, LGBTQ fiction, and stories of found families.

Still Life by Sarah Winman is a love letter to Florence, Italy. An easy five stars. No review of mine could do this book justice.

In Tuscany, during World War II, Evelyn Skinner, a 64-year-old art historian, meets Ulysses Temper, a young British soldier. Their chance encounter forms an enduring bond of friendship that leaves a lasting impression on Ulysses and helps shape the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Evelyn is in Florence trying to rescue paintings from the war and reminisce on her first visit to Florence when she fell in love with a beautiful maid named Livia.

Fast forward to after the war, Massimo, an Italian lawyer, presents Ulysses with the opportunity to return to Florence and see where it takes him.

Still Life sweeps across four decades and into the lives of characters that will steal your heart. I can’t even choose a favourite character; they are all to-die-for. We have Claude, a talking parrot full of wisdom and one-liners; old Cressy, a loving father figure to everyone; Pete, a goofy but talented piano player. And so many more.

This story is the kind of historical fiction I love. It’s full of art, love, friendships, and mouth-watering descriptions of Italian food. I also may or may not have shed a few tears while reading it.

This remarkable tale will make you want to hop on a plane and visit the beauty that is Florence.

Thank you to Viking for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Love and pain and the whole damn thing. I thought Winman’s previous novel, Tin Man, was one of the best things I’d ever read, devastatingly beautiful and moving, so I was pumped to read this new one. It’s in the same wheelhouse, with luminous prose and touching on many of the same themes, but I’m giving it 4 stars rather than 5 because there are places where things get just the teensiest bit twee for my taste. But if you can swallow a tinge of magical realism and a few too many cutesy devices (like the decommissioned ambulance purchased as a private vehicle, with a siren that is constantly going off), there’s a great deal to recommend this. It takes place in the years from the Second World War to the 1980s, from London to Florence, but mainly beautiful Florence. In fact, this is an utter valentine to that city of art and poetry and gorgeous food. It opens in 1944 in Florence, with a fateful meeting between 60-something art historian Evelyn Skinner and two British soldiers. The Allied forces have fought their way northward and are pushing the Germans out of Florence, who have destroyed much of the oldest parts of the city as they retreat. Evelyn, who plans to help identify artworks brought out of hiding and restore them to their proper locations, meets the Captain and his driver, Ulysses Temper, and bums a lift with them to a local palazzo, where they have their breath taken away by a just uncovered masterpiece. They are all mutually charmed and bond immediately and intensely, though they must go their separate ways at once. And thus begins this engaging story that will take these people and others in their lives across the next 30-plus years.

It’s all about the families we choose and finding love and happiness in sometimes unexpected places. Several of the major characters are gay, or nursing unrequited love over decades. A 14-year-old girl falls in love, as does a chap in his 70s. They build a life for themselves in Florence, drawing friends into their circle and becoming an integral part of their neighbourhood. There are some wonderful scenes featuring the devastating sudden flood of 1967, with its loss of life and destruction of many artisanal businesses, not to mention the damage to hundreds of thousands of artworks and books.

This story really is a charmer. I love Florence and art and music and poetry and Tuscan cuisine, and there’s a lot here to satisfy those cravings. It makes me want to hop on a plane and go back. But failing that, this is the next best thing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an advance reading copy.