Book Review – Tin Man by Sarah Winman

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About the Book

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.

Format: ebook (214 pages) Publisher: Tinder Press
Publication date: 27th July 2017 Genre: Fiction

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My Review

Tin Man is described by the publishers as ‘a love letter to human kindness and friendship, loss and living’ and I think that’s an apt summary of this gentle, very moving novel.

The book opens in 1950 when Dora Judd, pregnant with her first child, becomes mesmerized by a reproduction of Van Gogh’s painting ‘Sunflowers’, one of several prizes in a raffle in the local Community Centre. The painting stirs happy memories of seeing the original on a school trip. When she draws a winning ticket she chooses the painting, much to the disgust of her overbearing husband Len who is more interested in a bottle of whisky. She hangs the painting in their lounge in an act of defiance, provoking her husband’s anger.

Move forward forty years and Dora’s son Ellis is living a lonely life of quiet despair following the death of his wife, Annie. His days are filled with the mundane routine of work in the local car factory, banging out dents as his father did before him. It’s a far cry from his early ambition to become an artist. A photograph of himself and Annie alongside his childhood friend Michael is a reminder of happier times.

Ellis and Michael meet as twelve-year-olds and immediately become close friends spending most of their time together. Gradually their relationship evolves into something more than friendship, one that requires secrecy. When Ellis meets Annie, two become three but in an entirely harmonious way. Then one day Michael leaves. It’s only in the second half of the book, told from Michael’s perspective, that we – and Ellis – learn the full story. I won’t say more other than Michael, like Ellis, finds what he was looking for but also experiences the pain of loss.

Tin Man is an exquisitely told story about the complexity of human relationships. Although unbearably sad at times, the author balances this by ending it on a note of hope.

In three words: Moving, tender, insightful

About the Author

Sarah Winman grew up in Essex and now lives in London. She attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and went on to act in theatre, film and television. She is the author of the novels When God was a Rabbit (2011), A Year of Marvellous Ways (2015) and Still Life (2021).

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Book Review – Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

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About the Book

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A storm gathering force.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny weather-lashed island that is home to the world’s largest seed bank. As Shearwater risks being lost to rising sea levels, the island’s researchers have fled, and only the Salts remain.

Until, during the worst storm in living memory, a stranger washes ashore. The family nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, but it seems she isn’t telling the whole truth about why she’s there. And when Rowan stumbles upon sabotaged radios and a recently dug grave, she realizes that she’s not the only one on the island with a secret.

Format: Audiobook (9h 34 mins) Publisher: Canongate
Publication date: 24th July 2025 Genre: Thriller

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My Review

Wild Dark Shore was a book club pick and not something I would have chosen for myself although I was aware it has received rave reviews. (Unfortunately I was unable to go to the meeting so these thoughts are just my own although I understand the majority of book club members enjoyed it.)

The author certainly knows how to create high drama with multiple scenes full of tension and jeopardy. This was heightened for me because I listened to the audiobook version which has four different narrators making the experience like listening to a radio drama.

I was swept along by the story and the mystery behind Rowan’s presence on the island. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to say more without spoilers but safe to say things get quite dark. I was fascinated by the Salt family’s life on such an unforgiving and remote place, existing without many of the luxuries (some would say necessities) of everyday life and reliant on infrequent visits by supply vessels. But at the same time embracing the opportunity to immerse themselves in an unique place, living alongside the creatures who inhabit it, many of whom are being impacted by climate change.

I liked Rowan’s keen interest in learning about the animals, flora and fauna of the island from Orly, Dominic’s youngest son with his incredible memory for facts. For me, Rowan’s relationship with one member of the family developed a little too quickly to be credible. And, if I’m being picky, for a woman with stitches in a large gash sustained when she was washed up on the island, she seemed remarkably agile.

The element of the story which focused on climate change was actually the most fascinating part of the book for me. Not just the rising sea levels and increasingly violent storms that threaten the island and the continued viability of the seed bank located there, but Rowan’s experience of the destructive power of wild fires in Australia. You really do get a sense of mankind struggling, sometimes in vain, to defend itself against the increasing impact of climate change.

In three words: Tense, dramatic, compelling

About the Author

Charlotte McConaghy is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the novels Wild Dark Shore, Once There Were Wolves, and Migrations, which are being translated into more than thirty languages and adapted for screen. She has a Masters in Screenwriting and lives in Sydney with her partner and two children.

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