Still Life

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BARBELLION PRIZE 2021'A manifesto for recalibrating' DAILY MAIL'I can’t think of many books where the reader feels so passionately on the side of the narrator' GUARDIAN'A profound redefinition of the very idea of vitality' FINANCIAL TIMESJosie George lives in a tiny terraced house in the urban West Midlands with her son. Since her early childhood, she has lived with the fluctuating and confusing challenge of disabling chronic illness. But Josie’s world is surprising, intricate, dynamic. She has learned what to look for: the routines of her friends at the community centre; the neighbourhood birds in flight; the slow changes in the morning light, in her small garden, in her growing son, in herself.In January 2018, Josie sets out to tell the story of her still life, over the course of a year. As the seasons shift, and the tides of her body draw in and out, Josie begins to unfurl her history. And against a world which values progress and productivity above all else, Josie sets out a quietly radical alternative: to value and treasure life for life itself, with all its great and small miracles.'Full of kindness, A Still Life will make you a better person' CLARE MACKINTOSH'A Still Life is joy-lit: vivid, lovestruck, hopeful and wise' MELISSA HARRISON'Josie George is the kind of writer I strive to be ... A tough, tender, beautiful book about existing in a body in the world' ELLA RISBRIDGER'Could not be more timely ... An immensely talented writer' LINDA GRANT

Inspiring ... How fragile we are, she notes, how fleeting our joys ... Describes a way of living now familiar to many of us, A moving account of living with a chronic illness, In all honesty, I've never come across a new writer with more to offer the world, A profound redefinition of the very idea of vitality, Audacious, exuberant ... I can’t think of many books where the reader feels so passionately on the side of the narrator

Josie George is a writer and visual artist. She lives with her son in the West Midlands. A Still Life was written mostly from bed and is her first book. She is currently working on a novel alongside exploring how drawing, painting and photography might help her to stay awake to life as it really is. josiegeorge.co.ukbimblings.co.uk@porridgebrain