Still Life by Sarah Winman

In 1944, Ulysses Temper, a British soldier in the Allied advance in Tuscany meets two people who will change his life. The first is 64-year-old Evelyn Skinner, an art historian assisting in the recovery of masterpieces hidden by the Germans. She introduces him to the importance of art and explains about truth and beauty. A seed is sown which will lay dormant for a few years. The second is Arturo Bernandino, who’s life Ulysses saves when he persuades him not to jump from the roof of his apartment in Piazza Santo Spirito, Florence.

After the war Ulysses returns to his home in the East End of London and his wife Peggy, the love of his life. She has fallen in love with an American soldier, given birth to his child Alys and wants a divorce even though the American has disappeared.

Ulysses picks up his life again and we meet his friends, Col who owns the local pub, Pete the pianist and Cress, a friend who is like a father to him, all larger-than-life characters. And then there is Claude, the talking blue Amazonian parrot who is fond of quoting Shakespeare. Ulysses becomes a step-dad to Alys and loves her as if she was his own child.

Eight years later Ulysses learns Arturo has died from natural causes and in his will has left him his apartment. He takes the opportunity to step into a new life in Florence. He takes with him, Alys with Peggy’s blessing who admits Ulysses is a better parent then her, and Cress and of course Claude. This unconventional family unit establishes itself in Piazza Santo Spirito, part of the apartment is turned into a pensione, new friends are made and old friends visit. The contrast between the greyness and coal dust of a shattered London and the beauty of Florence is stark.

Ulysses establishes a globe making business, his father’s old trade. And the seed that Evelyn planted grows. On several occasions Evelyn Skinner and Ulysses are tantalising close to meeting in Florence but they are not reunited until the flood of 1966 when Evelyn sees, in a newspaper, a photograph of Ulysses waist high in flood water, rescuing a globe from his workshop.

Ulysses’ love for Peggy runs like a seam through the novel as does art, Italian food and the Italian way of life. This is a book about love, friendship and connectedness. It will make you laugh out loud and instil in you a desire to visit Florence.