When God was a Rabbit: From the bestselling author of STILL LIFE

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An intriguing book. Written by someone with understanding of hidden mental problems. Humour & sadness with well defined characters, I read these book descriptions. They sound on the far side of boring. They almost scream: "I am literature. LIT-er-a-ture. Pronounced the douchey way, dear. I only bore you because you are dumb. If you were actually an intellectual, you would bow before my literary prowess. Read the New Yorker more, darling." When God was a Rabbit is the debut young adult novel by Sarah Winman. Published in 2011 by Headline, it tells the story of a single family across four decades and the strange and wonderful events which shape them. This coming-of-age novel is praised for its comments on familial ties and the loss of childhood innocence. Winman is an international bestselling author, and When God was a Rabbit received numerous awards including the 2011 Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book Award and the 2011 Galaxy National Book Award for Galaxy New Writer of the Year.

My favourite aspect of this book was its portrayal of so many different relationships. The novel explores so many different kinds of love: platonic, familial, romantic and I’m glad that it wasn’t restricted to just one kind but all kinds. The relationships in this book, from the romantic bonds characters form with others throughout their life, to the relationship between members of the family and then their friendships with other people, such as the family’s ties to Ginger and Arthur, to Elly’s friendship with Jenny Penny, to Nancy’s relationship with Elly’s parents, to Joe’s romance with Charlie, to the sibling bond between Elly and Joe, everything was developed so naturally and beautifully that I cared deeply for every single character that appeared in this book. This is why I love Sarah Winman’s books, because she is the best at creating such real, loveable characters that you just can’t help but root for and love.Sarah Winman is an actress who attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and has gone on to act in theater, film, and television. When God was a Rabbit is her debut novel. She lives in London. The second half of the novel, set between Cornwall and New York, jumps ahead to 1995. It is just after Elly's 27th birthday, when Jenny reenters Elly's adult life via letters. During their correspondence, Elly learns that Jenny is in jail for murdering her abusive husband, and that her friend was also molested as a child. Although they continue to stay in touch, Elly chooses not to visit Jenny at Her Majesty's Prison. Through their renewed friendship, Elly finds a calling as a newspaper columnist, specializing in articles about lost and found relationships. She accepts a job in New York, and her brother Joe decides to start a new life and move there as well. After years of separation, Joe and Charlie meet again in New York, but they do not rekindle a romance. When God Was a Rabbit is a book by Sarah Winman that was first published in 2011. It won Winman various awards including New Writer of the Year in the Galaxy National Book Awards [1] and was one of the books chosen by Richard & Judy in their 2011 Summer Book Club. [2] Synopsis [ edit ] Winman is a British actress who, if this first outing is anything to go by, has a big future as a novelist. She tells this coming-of-age story in two parts. It begins with Elly's account of growing up in 1970s London. Though her close family is a loving one, there is evil and darkness pressing in.

Sarah Winman wins Newton First Book Award". edbookfest.co.uk. Edinburgh International Book Festival. 19 October 2011 . Retrieved 29 January 2012. I’m not sure,’ I said, quite aware of my own muted need to fit in, somehow simply to hide. ‘I don’t want people to know I’m different.’” But there’s a continuation of huge and dramatic events, (some of which really feel quite contrived) Spanning four decades, from 1968 onwards, this is the story of a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives.Winman shows impressive range and vision in breaking out of the muted coming-of-age mold, and the narrative's intensity will appeal to readers who like a little gloom." - Publishers Weekly Whyyyyyyy?!?!? Why do people publish these books? Why do critics RECOMMEND them?!? Why do I read them?!?!? I know the answer to the last question: because sometimes these things surprise you and you end up with a Room, which you think sounds dumb and potentially boring and then ends up amazing. When God Was a Rabbit is told in two parts and follows brother and sister, Elly and Joe, across four decades, from 1968 onwards. It is a ‘beautiful story about a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives. It is a story about childhood and growing up, loss of innocence, eccentricity, familial ties and friendships, love and life. Stripped down to its bare bones, it’s about the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.’ The offbeat coming-of-age story of Elly, an English girl with an overactive imagination, an intense bond with her older brother, a Belgian hare named god and multiple dates with destiny in post-9/11 New York. Elly’s brother Joe, older by five years, becomes her eyes to the world outside, his thoughts inform her thoughts, his reading shapes her world, he becomes her world. Which is just as well, her parents seem so easily preoccupied, distracted by life, in general. As she grows older, others chime in, a friend, colourful characters – friends of her parents, and a rabbit, whose appearance seems to coincide with a child’s questioning of the nature of God. ”And so at Christmas,” as she explains to her class, ”god finally came to live with me.”

No amount of self-sufficiency could dispel the craving he still felt for that person we no longer talked about; that person who'd taken him apart and left a piece missing that none of us could find.”From the fabulous Ginger, the ageing Shirley Bassey impersonator, to Jenny Penny, Elly’s eccentric and tragic best friend, each character is created with a sense of depth and feeling that draws you in wholeheartedly. A cliché, but this book will have you howling with laughter one minute and reaching for the tissues the next as Winman takes you on a journey through childhood and beyond, all told in Elly’s unique voice. A great debut that cements Winman as an exciting new writer. 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 can imagine that as a writer it is tempting to do too much in one's first novel and I think this is what's wrong with this particular debut. As many have commented, the first section is far better than the second. It is in the first section, however, that we get a taste for the unnecessary and somewhat sloppy storytelling that's to come. It annoys me greatly when an author glosses over the realities of life by making characters incredibly rich. I saw no need for the sudden, imprecise wealth that befell this family before their relocation to Cornwall. It seemed to serve only to answer potential questions and explain how it was no one really worked for the rest of the book. Still the book and characters seemed comfortable in England and there the story made sense. When Joe oddly appeared in New York as a banker, I grew worried. First a Princess Di mention and now this a Sept 11 foreshadowing. And it was well written and definitely evoked emotion (although that's relatively easy with this subject); but was it necessary? If anything it distracted from the heart of the story and relied on the reader's existing emotional connection to the event to tug at the heart strings.

I resisted reading Winman’s book for a long time, as I feared that this might be somewhat winsome and a little too ‘Hollywood tidy feel-good’.

When God Was a Rabbit

Reading Paulette Jiles' revenge western Chenneville, it's easy to remember she's a poet. She plays ... It was the final chapter of his breakdown, the moment when his glass drained of everything, and its emptiness awaited only for choices to come.” Sarah Winman’s debut novel “When God was a Rabbit” takes advantage of this convention. Technically it’s about a brother and sister; that sister and her best friend; that brother and his best friend with benefits. It has no plot line that looms, waiting to be solved, fixed, redeemed or rectified, instead it has episodes that must be handled before the next episode or just later. Nothing stays forgotten for long, Elly. Sometimes we simply have to remind the world that we’re special and that we’re still here.” 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.