Still Life: A GMA Book Club Pick Audiobook By Sarah Winman cover art

Still Life: A GMA Book Club Pick

A Novel

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Still Life: A GMA Book Club Pick

By: Sarah Winman
Narrated by: Sarah Winman
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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, reimmersing 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. 20th Century Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Witty Thought-Provoking
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Beautiful Writing • Vivid Characters • Compelling Relationships • Emotional Depth • Perfect Accent Work

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This story is full of memorable characters both lovable and annoying all of whom will break your heart at some point. The author is the narrator. I have rarely found that satisfactory but in this case perfection. She could easily become a professional narrator if her muse deserts her. I hope that doesn’t happen. She has a gift of gently expressing things so tenderly that I felt spellbound at times. More please.

A love letter to Florence Italy

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Beautifully read by the author so the voices obviously convey her feelings about her characters - and what characters they are! Each is drawn with delicate brushstrokes so the full picture emerges over the course of the novel. The dialogue is sharp but not unkind, the picture of the city of Florence conveys Winman’s love for and understanding of the city. The small communities in which we live - both strengths and weaknesses - are portrayed with acuity and love.

This book made me think gave me joy - hard to expect anything more than that.

Marvellous - bitter sweet, joyous and whimsical

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Absolutely charming! Yes, it's a love letter to Florence, as everyone says, but it's also a paean to life, love, friendship, and art. The title works on multiple levels -- it's life (as in, 'after all these changes and trials, it's still life after all' -- not a quote from the book, merely a summation of how I experienced it), it's the term as used in art to describe a particular genre of painting, and it's living life artfully and expansively and joyfully. Lovely, engaging characters: A soldier-turned-inn-keeper and globe maker. A piano player, an impetuous singer, a delightful old gentleman of surprising intelligence and bearer of a very useful gift, a art historian, a gruff London publican, a preternaturally smart young girl, and of course the cittadini di Firenze. The novel is marked by a powerfully Romantic sensibility (as in the early nineteenth century movement -- you know: Keats, Byron, and all that). Elevated ideas. Magical realism in the form of an extraordinary parrot who can quote Shakespeare and so much more. I have little knowledge of art history, particularly from the Renaissance, but my ignorance was no impediment to enjoying the book. There are a few rare moments when "Still Life" came perilously close to being a bit precious but it always recovered its balance.

In short: "Still Life" is a delightful vacation from our times and culture to a kinder, brighter, and more human world.

Sarah Winman narrates her book and she does a spectacular job. (I'd give her performance 6 pr more stars if I could.) Her performance propelled what might have been 4 stars up to 5. It became clear very early that she has acting experience. This experience, together with her obvious intelligence and kindheartedness, join to make a truly wonderful book.

A wonderful vacation from our dark times

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Like going to a reader’s theater .. listened twice. Brilliant. So poignant. It didn’t want it to end. A great walkthrough Florence ,

Magnificent

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You will want to be with these characters, sharing in their honest struggles and search for beauty and harmony.

The best book I have read in quite some time

Compelling

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