Still Life by Sarah Winman

In the hills of Tuscany during the final days of World War II, a young British soldier named Ulysses Temper meets Evelyn Skinner, an older art historian who has come to Italy to help salvage paintings from the ruins. Their brief encounter, and their shared love of art and Florence, leaves an imprint that will reach across decades.

After the war, Ulysses returns to London and the wonderfully unconventional circle of friends who have become his family. But an unexpected inheritance eventually draws him back to Florence, where he begins a new life among its piazzas, cafés, artworks, and people.

Spanning decades, Still Life is a warm and expansive novel about friendship, found family, art, chance encounters, and the places that become part of who we are. Above all, it is a love letter to Florence and to the unexpected ways a life can unfold.