So it proved, but I was still quite enchanted by Elly herself and was pretty sure I was going to like but not love, this book Winman balances these themes with pathos and humour. She has a particular talent for comedy and at times the book is laugh-out-loud funny. Sarah Winman's bestselli

Ceea ce am apreciat mai puțin a fost finalul, colorat asemeni unui curcubeu dat fiind multitudinea de happy end-uri. Până și cele mai dramatice momente sunt depășite cu brio, iar traumele din copilărie sunt procesate cu dârzenie în exclusivitate pe cont propriu. Acest aspect mi s-a părut exagerat și puțin veridic luând în considerare avalanșa de evenimente nefaste ce s-au perindat de-a lungul întregii povești. And from that moment, I watched her. Watched her with different coloured eyes, until the raging energy that coursed through my body finally revealed itself and gave itself a name: envy. For I knew already that something had taken me from me, and had replaced itself with a desperate longing for a time before; a time before fear, a time before shame. And now that knowledge had a voice, and it was a voice that rose from the depths of my years and howled into the night sky like a wounded animal longing for home.”When a life-changing incident occurs, and Elly mentions it to her older brother Joe in an off-handed way, he handles it the best he can and then gives her a gift, a rabbit that she names God. God talks to her, not in the obnoxious way of, say, TV’s Wilfred. Just a sentence or two that provides direction either from his mouth or her imagination. Sorry. This review contains a mini spoiler but I couldn't work out how to hide it so if you don't want any giveaway info you'd better ignore this one. However if you are continuing to read, thanks. Amintirile”, îmi spunea ea, „indiferent cât de mărunte sau de inconsecvente ar fi, sunt paginile care ne definesc”.” Not my usual type of book and had been very reluctant to read this one, several friends recommended it to me but I had put it off for a long time. Having read this for my local bookclub meeting this evening I am not quite sure what I would want to say. It seems to me that Sarah Winman is not quite sure what she is writing. Is it the story of family relationship both 'nuclear ' and extended, is it a treatise on gay relationships, is it an account of a brother and sister growing to adulthood across the latter part of the 20th Century and of course all of these can be totally harmoniously co-joined and indeed they are but the story comes off its rails because of the bizarre and unreasonable loading up of accidents of chance and fantasy as it goes on.

The first half of the story is bejewelled with love, in all of its guises. I was instantly beguiled by Winman's wonderful writing style and began to tell friends about this must-read novel before I was even one-third of the way through. The prose is natural, spirited and memorably poignant. There is a poetry to her writing: 'My mother lay down with me on my bed, her perfume tumbling over my face like breath, her words smelling of Dubonnet and lemonade' Her family’s assorted eccentricities are described with brevity of language that poignantly captures the key aspects of each character and then lets the reader imagine the rest.’ Someone in my book group recommended this book and I started to read it after a hard day at work. It totally transformed my thinking, I was drawn into the story I loved the characters and felt happy. I have just finished her other book, still life and feel the same, do read it I do like the main story; it's about the love and bond between a brother and sister, a family, friendships and love in all forms. It's a beautiful concept, really. But I'm afraid I cannot say I enjoyed the book as much, let alone reread it.I divide my life into two parts. Not really a Before and After, more as if they are bookends, holding together flaccid years of empty musings, years of late adolescent or the twentysomething whose coat of adulthood simply does not fit.” I felt that the eponymous God/rabbit premise might have been developed further, and I would have loved for Elly to swapped her circumspection for just some of Nancy's devil-may-care personality traits. To comfort his lonely little sister and provide her with a "proper friend," Joe buys Elly a Belgian hare for Christmas, a rabbit which she names "god." While her local Sunday School rejects the blasphemy of Elly naming her pet "god," the event spurs a friendship between Elly and her classmate Jenny Penny. Jenny has a tumultuous family life, as her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, and the two girls lean on one another, forming a life-long friendship.