Saturday, August 25, 2018

Book Brief: Tin Man by Sarah Winman


Tin Man
by Sarah Winman
 G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2018
214 pages

Motivation for reading: Blogger reviews... so many friends loved it.

Source:
hardcover book, borrowed from the library
audiobook, downloaded via Overdrive from the library

Publisher's summary:
A novel celebrating love in all of its forms and the little moments that make up the life of an autoworker in a small working-class town.

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. And then one day this closest of friendships grows into something more.

But then we fast forward a decade or so, to find that Ellis is married to Annie, and Michael is nowhere in sight. Which leads to the question, what happened in the years between?

Tin Man  is a love letter to human kindness and friendship, and to loss and living.


Opening lines:
1950 
All Dora Judd ever told anyone about that night three weeks before Christmas was that she won the painting in a raffle 
She remembered being out in the back garden, as lights from Crowley Car Plant spilled across the darkening sky, smoking her last cigarette, thinking there must be more to life.

One sentence review:
Heartbreaking, but also heartwarming, this beautifully written book has a wistful, almost dreamlike tone... which is perfectly captured in the audio version narrated by the author.

My rating:



12 comments:

  1. I started the audio of this but didn't finish it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vicki - I almost quit early on,too, but several readers urged me to stick with it.

      Delete
  2. This sounds so good! From the summary, it brings to mind The Heart's Invisible Furies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Les - It made me think I should give The Heart's Invisible Furies another try. I still have the hardcover in Florida...

      Delete
  3. I think I was expecting a very different story. Didn’t love it either!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diane - The beautiful writing was the main draw for me, though reading in Lake Placid helped. I liked this book, but didn't love it.

      Delete
  4. Beautiful picture! I really want to read this book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Iliana - That balcony was a perfect place to sit and read!

      Delete
  5. Wow narrated by the author. That's good to hear. I'll check it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan - I think audio is the way to go with this book... the author did a great job!

      Delete

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