Ratings19
Average rating4.4
Set between World War II and the 1980s, Still Life is a beautiful, big-hearted story of strangers brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Tin Man and When God Was a Rabbit. In the wine-cellar of a Tuscan villa, as the Allies advance and bombs fall around them, two people meet and share an extraordinary evening: Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier from London's East End; Evelyn Skinner is a worldly older art historian and possible spy. She has come to Italy to rescue paintings from the ruins and relive her memories of the time she encountered E.M. Forster and had her heart stolen by an Italian maid in a particular Florentine room with a view. Evelyn's talk of truth and beauty plants a seed in Ulysses's mind that night, one that will shape the trajectory of his life--and the lives of those who love him--for the next four decades. Moving from war-ravaged Tuscany to the boozy confines of The Stoat and Parrot pub in London and the piazzas of post-war Florence, Still Life is both sweeping and intimate, mischievous and deeply felt. It is a novel about beauty, love and fate, about the things that make life worth living, and the things we're prepared to die for.
Reviews with the most likes.
4.5 stars. Beautiful, extravagant and luscious- with a cast of characters you will grow to love (Cress was my favourite
Nádherný, pomalý čtení, vykreslené detaily vskutku jako na malbě se zátiším. Rozhodně potěší čtenářstvo holdující found family, zasazení do Florencie minulýho století je krásnej escapismus, naprosto casually queer postavy mě příjemně překvapily. Není to pro každýho, chápu co tím lidi v recenzích myslí když píšou že to je roztahaný, ale pro mě to byla láska, která mě přesvědčila že možná slow paced knížky jsou pro mě.
Exquisitely written ... however I have two gripes. Firstly, the back cover mentioned the spy angle and it didn't amount to anything except a cursory sentence; and secondly, there was no real tension in the story, and felt like a linear family saga that didn't make any substantial point. I did like Claude though!
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2,097 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...