Do you ever pick up a book at just the right time? I felt this way with Still Life by Sarah Winman. A good friend and avid reader (shout out to Trish!) lent me this book after she finished and said it was one of the best books she had read in a long time. For many reasons, it took me a while to pick it up. But the beautiful cover and Trish’s recommendation kept calling to me and I picked it up a few weeks ago. The bulk of the book takes place in Florence, Italy and wouldn’t you know it, but my husband and I are off to Rome and Florence later in the month! Perfect timing!
Before I bury the lead, I absolutely LOVED it. Still Life is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
The story begins when a young English soldier (Ulysses) and a middle-aged English art historian (Evelyn Skinner) meet in war-torn Italy as the Allied troops move through Italy. They shared a similar “old soul” personality and Evelyn passed on her love of Italy and Florence during their brief friendship.
After the war, Ulysses returns to London and his neighborhood friends – a group of loners and lonely people struggling in post-War England. This group includes, Col, owner of the local pub and his daughter Ginny. Cressy, everyone’s father figure but no one’s father, is a self-taught (word for all knowledgeable) and the wise sage of the group. And of course, Peg, whom everyone is in love with (especially Ulysses) but she always falls for the wrong guy. This is a close-knit neighborhood where everyone has lost someone to the war or life, and everyone helps each other pick up the pieces. Sarah Winman paints a picture with words of this little corner of London and its people.
Just as our eyes form a picture of East London with the canals and pubs like The Stoat and Parrot (Col’s pub), Ulysses inherits an apartment in Florence from a grateful Italian whose life he saved toward the end of the war. With not much keeping him in London and a love for Florence given to him by Evelyn, Ulysses returns to Florence. Cressy decides to go with him, along with Alys, Peg’s daughter, who Ulysses is helping raise. No, Peg & Ulysses are not married. Alys’ father is an American soldier that disappeared after the war, but Ulysses slips naturally into the role of father figure.
Sarah Winman paints a vivid picture of Florence and the piazza in Santo Spirito where Ulysses and his friends live. Her words carry you to the artwork at the Uffizi, the countryside of Tuscany and laughter of friends on the piazza on New Year’s Eve. And the friends she creates are each complex characters with talents and flaws but all of whom love each other like the family they have created. What struck is me is how all of them want each other to grow into the best person they can be – and are around to help each other on their journey. They do this whether are living next door to each other in London or Florence or sending letters across the continent.
Still Life will make you laugh and cry. The 450 pages will either fly by or you will, like me, decide to savor them because you don’t want the book to end.
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