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).
Connect with Sarah
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