Still Life by Sarah Winman

 

Summary (from the publisher): 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 amongst 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 Parrot -- 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 richly drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

Review: In 1944, a young English soldier named Ulyssess Temper finds himself in a wine cellar of a deserted villa. He has a chance encounter with a middle-aged art historian named Evelyn Skinner, who is there trying to save paintings from the wreckage of war. The two find in each other a kindred spirit, and their chance encounter sets off a series of events that profoundly alters the future course of Ulysses' life. When he returns home to London, he carries his time in Italy home with him. And later, an unexpected inheritance draws him back to Italy, along with a motley crew. 

This was a beautifully written novel about found family amid the wreckage of war and later amid the wreckage of terrible flooding. Ulysses never marries or has children, yet he very much has love and raises a family. He lost his parents early on but finds multiple adoptive parents and grandparents. The beautiful inclusivity of his life was moving. 

One of the major themes that winds throughout this book and in nearly every character is the art and the creation of it. Evelyn saves art, Peg sings, Ulysses creates beautiful globes, and Alys does a little of multiple artforms. Early on in the novel, Ulyssess asks if saving art is more important that saving people. She responds saying, "They go together. 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. [...] Art versus humanity is not the question, Ulysses. One doesn't exist without the other. Art is the antidote" (26). The meaning of life, according to Ulyssess and his family and friends, is to love well and to make the world more beautiful. 

Stars: 4