When God Was A Rabbit.

I love to read and it is often said that reading is the best way to learn the craft of writing.  I therefore feel it is acceptable to mention some of the books that I read whilst I take this journey as a writer.  I read as much as time allows but it is very rare for me to finish a book in under a week, but that is exactly what I have just done.  I say this not to brag about how quickly I can read or to presume that I am a more prolific reader but just to try and convey how this book affected me.

The book is When God Was a Rabbit, by Sarah Winman.  I had heard of it before and was intrigued but never really seeked it out.  On a recent visit to my local library I came across it sitting on the ‘for sale’ trolley.  It was priced at 20p.  The librarian was baffled as to why it should be on there, it is a fairly new book and in excellent condition.  She shook her head and let me take it away after parting with my 20p.  It may be naive but I am a great believer in books finding a way to us.  This book found its way to me now.  If I hadn’t seen it sitting on the trolley for only 20p (times are hard!) I probably wouldn’t have read it any time soon.  For me this book was such an easy read, I opened it up and it just carried me along.    

I am a little in awe that this is Sarah’s debut novel.  She is a wonderful story teller. I felt great warmth for all the characters in this book.  I loved the relationship between our protagonist Elly and her brother.  It made me realise how much we all need someone who can understand us and except us for exactly who we are.   This story tells the story of a family but through the eyes of its youngest member.  Through Elly you meet a selection of characters as she sees them. She feels different when in reality she is just someone working her way through things. .  I think many of us go through life feeling that we don’t quite fit.  I also think this is OK and that most of the time there isn’t a perfect fit.  Isn’t it good to be a different?  I also loved the focus on Elly’s friend Jenny Penny.  What a fabulous, memorable name.  Poor Jenny doesn’t have an easy time of it but this story shows just how valuable friendship can be.  It touches often on accepting people for what they are and loving because of it rather than in spite of it.

Elly’s family are lovely and I sense real tenderness between them all.  Sarah’s portrayal of her parents is sensitive and gives a great insight into their characters.  The words they speak and their actions tell us volumes about them without having to go into great chunks of descriptive text.  Throughout the story Sarah touches on major events that happened which really give a sense of time to the book.  As someone who also grew up around that era (I am 5 years younger than Elly) it added something that I could relate to, making the story all the more real.  This book is about family, friendship and the difficulties we sometimes have to face.  It is a little about religion and how it can sometimes touch our lives, even if we do not consider ourselves to be religious.  Quite often we reach for some kind of help from above in times of trouble. 

In this book God was a Rabbit even then he had a great impact on the life of young Elly.   It is impossible to know what’s around the corner or what life will throw at us but by treasuring the people in our lives we can make the difficult times a little easier to bare.