E.M Forster's Room with A View was also a big inspiration for her when she started writing Still Life.

A breathtaking reading experience... a beautiful book that is unafraid to reveal the ugliness of the world * Toronto Star * I'm always surprised with how little I start with [when I sit down to write]. And then I just dive in. Marvellous lives in the middle of a remote and Cornish Creek (Roseland peninsula perhaps?) but to her this is more than a creek, this is a world and unique landscape she paints as her own. The imagery reads like a painting – A gripping waiting game ... The novel's surprising denouement is also well worth the wait * Observer * What do you think about the relationship between Francis and Marvellous? Memory is a central theme in the book – do you think it was presented as something that is reliable? How did you feel about the element of magic in the book – did it intrigue you or turn you off?One day she comes along an injured soldier, also with an unusual name – Francis Drake – and like Marvellous he is used to people commenting on his name. He’s there to fulfill the wish of dying man. Marvellous offers to help him.

I can see this book not being to everyone's tastes as it is very quirky but I think if readers give it a chance I think by the end of the story they will have fallen ever so slightly for the wonderfully different Marvellous Ways. There are a host of other characters who come in and out of the lives of these three main characters, all of whom are wounded or lost in some way.verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ I was attracted to this book straight away by it's beautiful cover, it really is lovely and it doesn't stop there, what's inside is even lovelier. It would make a great book for a book club- as the writing style may not appeal to everyone but would promote great discussions- and there are reading group questions at the end of the book. There is only one way to read and give justice to this novel, and that is to give yourself up to its fairytale, dreamlike quality. Marvellous is an 89-year old woman, the daughter of a mermaid, who has lived most of her days in a caravan on a remote Cornish creek. Meanwhile on the battle front of France a soldier, Drake, comes across a dying comrade who asks him to deliver a last letter home to his father in England. And Drake who, having lived his life with the sense of loss that came from never knowing his father, keeps his promise. In doing so he comes across Marvellous and the pair strike up an unlikely, but inevitable, friendship. A Year of Marvellous Ways is the story of the improbably-named Marvellous Ways, a ninety-year-old hermit who lives in a gypsy caravan by a creek in Cornwall. She’s kind of a wise woman, herbal healer type, who gathers oysters and crabs for her dinner and still bathes in the river every day. Into her life stumbles Freddy Drake, a young soldier still suffering the effects of the Second World War and a friendship grows between them.

And he said, 'God damn iit, woman, you've still got a mouth! Now come down those steps and let me hold you.' This is a lyrical, mystical story with a magical undertone. Marvellous is a wise old lady and she recounts her memories throughout the book. It’s a very evocative tale. She meets a man called Drake who needs nursing and they share their life histories. Their friendship forms a huge part of the story. It’s set in Cornwall which adds to the feel of the book . Loneliness weakens. Aloneness empowers. Aloneness makes of us something so much more than we are in the midst of others whose claim is that they know us.” I loved this story, these characters, the way in which this story was told with so much charm, and this magical view of love and life and the world. The accompaniments to their melody and harmony are found in other people who are seeking their purpose and find it through their connections with each other. And at the center of it all, the old woman’s melody sings true and holds the life notes of everyone together until they are able to follow their own melody.

If you have been reading along with me – I would love to hear what you thought in the comments below. As is standard, in all my book club geekery, I have fished out some questions for you to muse on: