Review: Tin Man

This book by Sarah Winman is an intimate and thought-provoking read. This is almost a love story. But it's not as simple as that. Ellis and Michael are twelve-year-old boys when they first become friends, and for a long time, it is just the two of them, cycling the streets of Oxford, teaching themselves how to swim, discovering poetry, and dodging the fists of overbearing fathers. Their connection is unspoken, and they mean everything to one another. Then Ellis meets Annie, and as the blurb says, “and it changes nothing and everything.” The three share an unconventional yet beautiful connection. The story begins, however, from Ellis’s POV in his late forties, and we journey back with him to discover more about his life. This is a beautiful story ultimately about life and love and where our choices take us.

The writing is simple enough to follow quite easily, which for me is something I look for even in literary fiction. There’s no point reading a book if I can’t understand what’s being said or felt. The way Winman emotes the feelings and quiet longings of her characters makes this a compelling read. She possesses a skilful way of writing and creating not only the world around the characters but there’s a softness to how she encapsulates Ellis and his story.

With every new piece of information about these characters, I found myself yearning for more, actually to the point where I wished the novel was longer. It’s only 195 pages, and I felt slightly cheated out of more! But beyond my own personal desires, I felt like it was intentionally meant to be made up of snapshots rather than a winding road full of twists and turns that could go on forever.

I genuinely enjoyed reading this, and it definitely made me feel, which is all you really want from a good novel.

Rating **** 4.5/5