Still Life by Sarah Winman is an undeniably pretty story, predominantly set in Florence, and focused around themes of art, love and luck.
The book has had tonnes of reviews, so I won’t recount the plot – all you need to know is that the story stretches from post-WWII to the seventies, and tracks the interwoven lives of a number of characters (including a blue and yellow Macaw named Claude).
Winman plays with perspective – simply in terms of individual characters; nuanced if you take the idea of the title and think about how we all see a fixed object in a different way, our history and experiences giving context; and lastly at a meta-level, with her riff on Forster’s A Room with a View.
It is impossible to discuss this book without reference to A Room with a View. And this is where it gets a bit tricky for me, because I love Forster’s Florence. Deeply. Little bits of Lucy Honeychurch, cousin Charlotte, Eleanor Lavish et al. creep into my everyday. From the outset, the parallels between the stories are obvious, but it is not until the end when Winman unambiguously (and cleverly) links them. And honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about it. I realise that I’m not being asked to make a choice, but if forced, it’s Lucy over Evelyn.
The level of historical detail is just right for my don’t-usually-pick-historical-fiction-because-I-hate-info-dumping tastes (yes, I googled the Florence flood of 1966); and the writing is lush and evocative without being overdone.
There were no pubs with pianos out near Peg, so she stopped singing and that barnacled life line slipped through her grip. Cocktail hour drew closer everyday and old Ted, mister insurance, mister risk-adverse, he shook ’em high and made ’em dry. Olive, of course, because Peg preferred lemon, “Don’t be such a bastard,” she’d say and they’d kiss…
But Still Life lacked the emotional complexity and humour of Winman’s other novels (or perhaps the humour relied too heavily on quirks – the bird, and the always-shrieking-ambulance), and I was left feeling that too much had been attempted.
I received my copy of Love and Other Puzzles from the publisher, Harper Collins Australia, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
3/5 Enjoyable but didn’t steal my heart.
The vermouth had made her witty…
Vermouth means negronis for me, but try a Garibaldi for a change.
As part of the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge, I’m comparing the Belfast summer and Melburnian winter. The results for the day I finished this book (August 26): Belfast 11°-19° and Melbourne 11°-18°.
Pingback: 20 Books of Summer (except that it’s Winter) | booksaremyfavouriteandbest
I’ve tried to read this twice, and both times it’s gone back to the library unfinished. I’m lukewarm on Winton in general: loved Tin Man, but thought When God Was a Rabbit silly. I think I can safely avoid this one.
I haven’t read When God Was a Rabbit, but this one Still Life, has shifted my view of Winman after Tin Man from ‘yes, read everything’, to ‘hmm, wait and see what trusted bloggers say first’.
Ahhh…it absolutely stole my heart!!
This took my a while to get into but I did end up enjoying it a lot. The parrot was such fun too.
This keeps grabbing my attention because my copy of the other Still Live (by Louise Penny) is missing. Although I have picked it up several times, I never felt compelled to read it but it does sound intriguing.
I love historical fiction, and Florence, so even if it was not a highlight for you, I might try it out. A Room With a View is wonderful of course.
Pingback: Melbourne Writers Festival 2022 | booksaremyfavouriteandbest
I loved this book in all its entirety – I found it masterful with a beautiful rendering of the complexity of love, grief and kindness that wraps us all in our lives. Loved the art, Florence amore mio, and the wisdom within the words of this book
I really did not care for this book. I thought it was contrived, too many unbelievable coincidences. Did not like some of the characters. I think I am in the minority.
I didn’t love it either (friends rated it in their favourites for the year) – from memory, I thought it uneven and agree, too many neat coincidences. Interestingly, I heard Winman speak and it seems the idea that prompted the book was the Florence floods – made sense because this was clearly the best part of the book (I then wondered if the rest of the story was constructed around the flood section).