2024 the best life book club review

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(as of Dec 11, 2024 12:45:10 UTC - Details)

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | A Veranda Magazine Book Club Pick

A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.

Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades.

As Ulysses returns home to London, re-immersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—he carries his time in Italy with him. And when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate, and returns to the Tuscan hills.

With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

Reviewer: CS
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Love Story to a Place and Time, and to Love, in all its Many Forms
Review: ’Once is enough. We just need to know what the heart’s capable of, Evelyn.And do you know what it’s capable of?I do. Grace and fury.’An ode to art, to a time and place, and a shared ’belief that a combination of intellect and beauty can make the world a better place.’’It’s what we’ve always done. Left a mark on a cave or on a page. Showing who we are, sharing our view of the world, the life we’re made to bear. Our turmoil is revealed in those painted faces--sometimes tenderly, sometimes grotesquely, but art becomes a mirror. All the symbolism and the paradox, ours to interpret. That’s how it becomes part of us. And as counterpoint to our suffering, we have beauty. We like beauty, don’t we? Something good on the eye cheers us. Does something to us on a cellular level, makes us feel alive and enriched. Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgment. Captures forever that which is fleeting. A meager stain in the corridors of history, that’s all we are. A little mark of scuff. One hundred and fifty years ago Napoleon breathed the same air as we do now. The battalion of time marches on. Art versus humanity is not the question, Ulysses. One doesn’t exist without the other. Art is the antidote.’Set mostly in Florence, this is a story of family. Not your typical Father/Mother with 2.5 kids kind of family, this is a family made up of friends acquired along the way who have come to live in Florence in the mid 20th century, when the bombs were still falling, which adds to the desire to live life fully while they still can, and appreciate what beauty there is left in life with an intensity as the world seems to be crumbling around them.A love story, if a somewhat atypical one. A story of friendship, of family, both the ones we are born into and the ones that we create from the people we meet as we travel through life. It is the story of war, the destruction to the land, and the destruction to the people whose lives are affected, and the friendships that were born of the time. A love story to a place and time, and to love, in all its many forms.At 464 pages, this is not a quick or light read, but it is one that will now live inside me, as all the best stories do.

Reviewer: Claudia Massie
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautiful book
Review: Sarah Winman writes beautifully. Sometimes, I had to pause just to savor her words. I loved all of the characters and will miss them. My only criticism would be that it was longer than it needed to be.

Reviewer: Mary Lins
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Beautiful
Review: “Still Life” by Sarah Winman (2021) is a delight! It’s no wonder it was an international best seller!It’s the story of a group of unforgettable characters, and a talking parrot named Claude, as they navigate their lives after WWII. This motley group is led by former English soldier, Ulysses Temper, who became interested in art while stationed in Italy.“Still Life” is an unforgettable novel. It is by turns funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking, and sometimes shocking. Prepare to be completely enthralled.Italy, and Florence in particular, is the setting and this is a part of the world that I absolutely adore so it was a beautiful literary journey back for me.Now must add Ulysses Temper to the list of “Fictional Characters I’ve Fallen in Love With”, along with Atticus Finch and Count Alexander Rostov.

Reviewer: Inez Woods
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: a perfect gem of a story
Review: Just loved Sarah Winman’s writing. It was like a lesson in Art History. Great characters, laugh out loud moments. Could hardly put down. Will look for her other books.

Reviewer: Samuel Espinoza
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: confounding
Review: I had great difficulty with maintaining a connection between characters. They would be vital to each other for a time and then disappear for reasons I couldn’t understand. I found not having narrative in quotation marks a bit difficult to read. On the other hand, descriptions of surroundings and relationships are poetic and wonderful.

Reviewer: Elizabeth J.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Lovely Read
Review: I recommend this book to all young people who are constrained by family or circumstance from experiencing the pure joy of letting loose and finding their bliss.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: a book to dwell in
Review: This author knows how to reach me deeply and quickly. Reading becomes such a gift when it becomes an immediate transport to other places and times and to characters I could know and like… All of them. So unusual to discover love scenes between women so well written, so normal, a genuine surprise and delight. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an open door, temporarily.

Reviewer: Mrs Lesley Beale
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Amazing story
Review: I truly loved this book - I dont want to reveal much so as not to ruin the experience for others, but the synopsis will tell all, and I have so enjoyed it. Definitely give this book a try!

Reviewer: Anita Kuehnel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I really enjoyed the elegant prose, the character building - and the characters themselves - as well as the intertwining lives. A lovely read, that I was sad to come to the end to.

Reviewer: Jo Stroud
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A joyous, uplifting, life-affirming book, full of optimism, serendipity and happy endings. Wonderful characters whom you will come to love, and not want to leave behind. And an outstanding writer - clever, funny, witty and full of warmth, with a real love of humanity.

Reviewer: C.R.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Read it during our Summer vacation in tuscany. Couldn't stop reading. Description of the atmosphere of this so wonderful place ist done absolutely perfect. I had to laugh, I had to cry......Simply wonderful.

Reviewer: Karen Crane
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A beautiful story. Not too many characters to try to remember.. just very strong ones with the power of art and the beauty of Italy combined. I devoured every page.

Reviewer: Avinash
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Liked all characters and their daily life conversations and poem by Cress and Peet The freedom to road and liked Ulysses the most as unconditional love for his chosen family