''When God Was a Rabbit'' is a book by

Sarah Winman Sarah Winman (born 24 December 1964) is a British author and actress. Biography In 2011, Winman's debut novel, '' When God Was a Rabbit'' (2011), became an international bestseller and won Winman several awards including New Writer of the Yea ...

that was first published in 2011. It won Winman various awards including New Writer of the Year in the

Galaxy National Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...

and was one of the books chosen by

Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

in their 2011 Summer Book Club.

Synopsis

''When God Was a Rabbit'' follows the life of a young girl – Eleanor Maud (Elly for short) – as she grows up first in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, then

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and the various characters she meets and befriends along the way. The book is named after God, a pet rabbit given to Elly by her brother who is a constant companion during her childhood. Overall it is a story about love in all its forms, surrounding the central characters, Elly, her brother and their extended circle of family and friends.

Awards

* New Writer of the Year in the

(United Kingdom), 2011 * Newton First Book Award in the

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...

(United Kingdom), 2011 *

Waterstones 11 The Waterstones 11 was a literary book prize aimed at promoting debut authors, run and curated by British bookseller Waterstones. It ran from 2011–13. The list of 11 authors are selected from a list of 100 authors submitted by publishers. The ...

(United Kingdom), 2011 * The Exclusive Books Boeke Prize (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

), 2011

Reviews

* Claudia FitzHerbert
Triumph and disaster
''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', 19 March 2011 * Anthony Cummins
Fiction in Brief
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', 28 March 2011 * Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan
Review: ''When God Was a Rabbit''
Summer 2011 * David Hebblethwaite
Book Review Sarah Winman
''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', 14 December 2011

References

Edition

* Sarah Winman: ''When God Was a Rabbit'' (

Headline Review Headline Publishing Group is a British publishing brand and former company. It was founded in 1986 by Tim Hely Hutchinson. In 1993, Headline bought Hodder & Stoughton, and the company became Hodder Headline Ltd. In 1999, Hodder Headline was acqu ...

: London, 2011) (). 2011 British novels English novels Novels set in Essex Novels set in Cornwall Novels set in New York City 2011 debut novels Headline Publishing Group books {{2010s-novel-stub