You know when you’re so enthralled with a book that you keep checking how many pages you have left for fear of it ending? That’s how I felt about Still Life, which is rich in storylines, beautiful prose, art, poetry and delicious imagery of Italy during good and bad times. If you love travel, history, art, food and books, you’re sure to enjoy this read as much I did. It became a companion to me, an escape that I kept close at hand to distract from the harsh realities we’ve been faced with in the last few weeks in this country.
Spanning 35 years, Still Life whisks the reader on a journey through the intertwined lives of its eccentric cast of characters as they adapt and transform. From 1944 (when Allied troops advanced through Tuscany), to post-war London and back to Italy where the city of Florence is rebuilt and restored to its former glory. I only visited Florence once in 1972, but memories of its famous landmarks and the works of Renaissance Masters who called Florence home, came flooding back as the city is brought to vivid, riotous life by Winman’s pen.
Along with When God was a Rabbit and A Year of Marvellous Ways, Still Life is further evidence that Winman has an exceptional gift for creating extraordinary characters who feel like old friends after only a few chapters. But more than that, it’s the special relationships and the unique, unconditional bonds of friendship between her cast that lie at the essence of this tale.
There is young Ulysses Temper, the protagonist, whom we meet as an English soldier in war-torn Italy in 1944. A chance encounter changes Ulysses’ life forever, when he runs into Evelyn Skinner, an art historian. Together they try to stay alive while salvaging artworks from the ruins.
The cast is rich and diverse, and besides the love of Ulysses’ life and the child he raises, there is a mix of wonderfully eccentric friends too. Kid, the young girl who sees and hears everything; Evelyn, who has an eclectic circle of friends, including writer E.M. Forster (Room with a View) who she meets in the early 1900s; unpredictable Peg, who is the glue that keeps them all connected; and my favourite, old Cress, with his shorts and good legs, whose wise council, loyal support and foresight play a pivotal role in Ulysses’ life.
It’s a sweeping tale about a group of people who experience life-changing encounters and are brought together by suffering, war, fate and, importantly, by their shared love for art and life. Ultimately, it is Winman’s downright virtuosity for storytelling that will stay with me.
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