When God was a rabbit by Sarah Winman

WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT is an incredibly exciting debut from an extraordinary new voice in fiction. 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. 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

Eleanor narrates this story of her life, from pre teens through to adulthood. She has encountered much in her life so far and her highs and lows are discussed in the book. Family and Eleanor's relationship with her family plays a big part in this book. Her relationship with her parents, her gay brother, her best friend Jenny Penny, the relocation to Cornwall and the separation from her best friend, her joy of receiving a rabbit for her birthday which she named God. The book also deals with how the family fit into society, their life in London and their subsequent move to Cornwall are both important places to the family and their move has many effects on the family, especially Eleanor who must leave behind her best friend, although this friendship is rekindled in the later half of the book under very different circumstances.

The main themes of the book are family, friends and the ups and downs of everyday life which has been punctuated by world news - the shooting of John Lennon and 9/11 to name but two.

The story has many highs and lows, times of humour and tears and is a great read which would be a great book for a book club to discuss. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all. It is a quick rad which draws you in.

If you are after action packed, high paced excitement then this book is not for you - but if you want a slow placed, engaging read then this is the book for you! A book full of emotion and reminiscing of times gone by and their effects of a young persons life. An excellent great debut novel from Sarah Winman, an author I am looking forward to reading more from soon (I hope). I received this book from Amazon Vine.