Join Sarah Winman for an evening at home as she talks with Simon Savidge about her new novel, Still Life.
From the author of When God was a Rabbit and Tin Man, Still Life is a big-hearted story of people brought together by love, war, art and the ghost of E.M. Forster.
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.
1944, in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa, as the Allied troops advance and bombs fall around them, two strangers meet and share an extraordinary evening together.
Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner is a sexagenarian art historian and possible spy. She has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the wreckage and relive memories of the time she encountered EM Forster and had her heart stolen by an Italian maid in a particular Florentine room with a view.
These two unlikely people find kindred spirits in each other and Evelyn’s talk of truth and beauty plants a seed in Ulysses’ mind that will shape the trajectory of his life – and of those who love him – for the next four decades.
Moving from the Tuscan Hills and piazzas of Florence, to the smog of London’s East End, Still Life is a sweeping, joyful, richly-peopled novel about beauty, love, family and fate.
‘Four course nourishment for all Winman fans’ Patrick Gale
‘Readers will want to prolong the pleasure of Sarah Winman’s beautiful novel Still Life as long as possible. It is a book to get lost in, the kind of story that bolsters the heart and soul. I loved it.’ Donal Ryan
‘Extraordinary . . . my book of the year’ Liz Nugent
This online event is brought to you by At Home with 4 Indies – a collaboration between Booka, Linghams, Book-ish & Forum Books. Different ticket options are available offering access to the the online event only or access plus a copy of the book delivered to the door. Copies of the books will be posted out after the event
Tickets: £5 (live stream only) or £20 (live stream plus copy of book delivered to your door)