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readingwhilemommying 's review for:
Still Life
by Sarah Winman
This book is astounding. Easily one of my favorites of the year.
An epic tale of history, art, love, loss, and life, this novel felt like a lush, expansive movie. Author Winman crafts a vivid, mesmerizing narrative that covers 40 years of history, both big moments and everyday occurances.
In 1944, Ulysses Temper, an Allied forces soldier, has a chance meeting with an older art historian named Evelyn Skinner. As bombs fall, they hide out in a wine cellar in Florence with Temper's Captain. The brief moment in time stays with both Ulysses and Evelyn even after they say farewell. After the war ends, Ulysses heads back to his hometown of London to a rag-tag group of pub-goers who are family more than friends and his estranged wife Peg, who, in his absence, had a baby named Alys with an American man. Evelyn continues to teach art history and enjoy spending time with several female lovers.
Ulysses and Evelyn eventually find one another again, yet during the 40 years they are apart, the narrative focuses on Ulysses's life with his friends in London and his eventual move to Florence. Each character is richly drawn, making you laugh, cry, and cheer, as they navigate the highs and lows of the day-to-day and the occasional "big" event that affects them. While the bulk of the narrative focuses on everyday events, it still enchants and engrosses. Even when the setting switches to Florence, the lives of the new characters we meet and Ulysses's experiences (and those of Cress and Alys, who go with him) are engaging and enlightening.
When Ulysses and Evelyn meet up again, the story moves to its inevitable and thoroughly satisfying conclusion. I loved every part of this (big!) novel. The commentary on how art heals and reveals our humanity. How the true-to-life 1966 Flood of the Arno is described and how Ulysses and his friends navigate the damage and devastation. Evelyn's rich sapphic love life and her encounters with famous artists and writers, especially E.M. Forester. The charming A Room with a View homage that enhances the historical chronology.
All in all, this sweeping saga is a gloriously rendered historical fiction novel that enchants with vivid writing and a historical timeline that highlights some truly momentous occasions. Yet, it still makes quite a case for the beauty, humor, and heart of the quiet, day-to-day moments. Under the frozen, "perfect" image of a still-life painting, lies the "messy" components that went into making it...but even in them, there is beauty. Similarly, the major challenges and conflicts of life are underscored by the tedium and pattern of the everyday. And even in those, there is beauty.
An epic tale of history, art, love, loss, and life, this novel felt like a lush, expansive movie. Author Winman crafts a vivid, mesmerizing narrative that covers 40 years of history, both big moments and everyday occurances.
In 1944, Ulysses Temper, an Allied forces soldier, has a chance meeting with an older art historian named Evelyn Skinner. As bombs fall, they hide out in a wine cellar in Florence with Temper's Captain. The brief moment in time stays with both Ulysses and Evelyn even after they say farewell. After the war ends, Ulysses heads back to his hometown of London to a rag-tag group of pub-goers who are family more than friends and his estranged wife Peg, who, in his absence, had a baby named Alys with an American man. Evelyn continues to teach art history and enjoy spending time with several female lovers.
Ulysses and Evelyn eventually find one another again, yet during the 40 years they are apart, the narrative focuses on Ulysses's life with his friends in London and his eventual move to Florence. Each character is richly drawn, making you laugh, cry, and cheer, as they navigate the highs and lows of the day-to-day and the occasional "big" event that affects them. While the bulk of the narrative focuses on everyday events, it still enchants and engrosses. Even when the setting switches to Florence, the lives of the new characters we meet and Ulysses's experiences (and those of Cress and Alys, who go with him) are engaging and enlightening.
When Ulysses and Evelyn meet up again, the story moves to its inevitable and thoroughly satisfying conclusion. I loved every part of this (big!) novel. The commentary on how art heals and reveals our humanity. How the true-to-life 1966 Flood of the Arno is described and how Ulysses and his friends navigate the damage and devastation. Evelyn's rich sapphic love life and her encounters with famous artists and writers, especially E.M. Forester. The charming A Room with a View homage that enhances the historical chronology.
All in all, this sweeping saga is a gloriously rendered historical fiction novel that enchants with vivid writing and a historical timeline that highlights some truly momentous occasions. Yet, it still makes quite a case for the beauty, humor, and heart of the quiet, day-to-day moments. Under the frozen, "perfect" image of a still-life painting, lies the "messy" components that went into making it...but even in them, there is beauty. Similarly, the major challenges and conflicts of life are underscored by the tedium and pattern of the everyday. And even in those, there is beauty.