“[A] wonderfully wise and compellingly readable tale of love and friendship in all their forms…. A remarkable first novel, worth savoring.” ―Booklist (starred review)


Eleanor Maud doesn’t believe God loves her, so she decides she must find someone, something, that does. From Elly’s wide-eyed childhood in 1970s England to New York City on the eve of 9/11, she moves through innocence, discovery, heartbreak, and resilience alongside her brother Joe, her stalwart companion through every upheaval, and her best friend Jenny Penny, who binds Elly in a fierce but complicated friendship. Funny, tender, and almost unbearably moving, Sarah Winman’s debut novel, When God Was a Rabbit, captures the strange work of growing up and the kinds of love that endure – between siblings, friends, the selves we once were, and the ones we are destined to become.