Still Life

Still Life opens with a fateful meeting between Ulysses and Evelyn. How does this encounter shape the rest of their lives? What did they each take away from that evening?

The Stoat and Parot is a major gathering place for many of the characters in this novel. What does the pub mean to each of them? How would you say Ulysses’s found family changes (or not) as they leave the security of the pub?

Ulysses is truly surprised by his inheritance of the pensione in Florence, and this fresh start at life includes leaving the only home he’s known. Why do you think he made the decision that he did? What would you have done in Ulysses’s situation?

How is mothering and motherhood represented throughout the book, particularly with Alys? What does she learn from her relationship with Peg? How is she cared for by Ulysses and Cress, and how does her upbringing in Florence impact her?

In what ways does nature impact the characters and the story? Discuss some examples, such as Cress’s connection with the trees and the devastation of the flood, and how they shape the larger narrative of Still Life.

Art, specifically Renaissance art, is a major part of this novel. In what ways are these characters’ lives, particularly Evelyn’s and Ulysses’s, inspired by and shaped by art? Do you have a favorite work of art that has impacted you?

Discuss the ways in which E. M. Forster’s presence is felt in Still Life. Have you read A Room with a View? What did you think of Evelyn’s connection to the writer?

Do you think Evelyn and Ulysses’s meeting, and then their near misses for decades, are due to sheer coincidence? Or do they feel more like matters of fate? Discuss the differences, if any, between the two.

Love, in all its forms, is a major theme in Still Life. Discuss the types of love explored in the novel. How do we see examples of familial, romantic, platonic, unconditional love?

What do you think is next for these characters? For Ulysses and Peg? Alys? Col and Peggy and Pete?