Tin Man

by Sarah Winman

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 COSTA NOVEL AWARD

The beautiful and heartbreaking new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT.

'Her best novel to date' Observer
'An exquisitely crafted tale of love and loss' Guardian
'A marvel' Sunday Express
'Astoundingly beautiful' Matt Haig

It begins with a painting won in a raffle: fifteen sunflowers, hung on the wall by a woman who believes that men and boys are capable of beautiful things.

And then there are two boys, Ellis and Michael,
who are inseparable.
And the boys become men,
and then Annie walks into their lives,
and it changes nothing and everything.

Tin Man sees Sarah Winman follow the acclaimed success of When God Was A Rabbit and A Year Of Marvellous Ways with a love letter to human kindness and friendship, loss and living.

• ISBN10: 0755390954
• ISBN13: 9780755390953
• Publish Date: 27 July 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
• Imprint: Tinder Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[Bianca]

I’m broken by my need for others. By the erotic dance of memory that pounces when loneliness falls.

A love letter on loss and loneliness. On longing for that kind of connection you once shared with another person, just like how the Tin Man in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was looking for the heart he lost.

[kalventure]

🎂🎉 Tin Man is available NOW!

They watched he shifting colors of the sun and the deep shadows eavesdropped on their grief, and the vivid descant of birdsong slowly muted to unimaginable silence.

This is a beautiful tale about first love, friendship, and the ebbs and flows of life. This book packs a lot into its 224 pages and details the instant and deep friendship between Ellis and Michael. This is not a linear story, and there are differing perspectives.

There are not any quotation marks for dialog, which in combination with the stream of consciousness style of writing may not be for every reader. But it works so well with this story. The prose shifts ever so slightly depending on the point of view and time period: the present is almost choppy and disjointed, while the past is more flowing and flowery prose (barring when Ellis' father is present). The monotonous and minutiae of life are highlighted in almost every line; little things at the time hold more meaning later when we recollect them.

All of it was important, he wanted to say. You were important to me, he wanted to say.

I am so glad that I stuck with this book. I will admit that I was frustrated and confused the first 12% of the book, but it slowly won me over. By the time I neared the end of Michael's narrative, I saw the beauty that Winman crafted. While we experience life in a linear fashion, we also experience life somewhat in reverse through recollection and relationships gain new meaning with additional information. This is a unique and refreshing read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, for the electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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