Tin Man

Starred review from April 2, 2018
Ellis Judd doesn’t know he has a heart. He’s been too busy protecting it, as Winman (When God Was a Rabbit) reveals in this achingly beautiful novel about love and friendship. The story unfolds in luminous prose as Ellis, five years a widower in 1996 Oxford, his grief still palpable, looks back on his life, reveling in his mother’s love of art, which she shared with him and his closest friend, Michael. Ellis sacrificed his artistic ambitions when his abusive father made him follow in his footsteps to work at a car plant. His life implodes when his mother dies, and he finds comfort in his relationship with Michael, which evolves into something much deeper—but then Ellis falls in love and marries a free spirit named Annie. The three adults become an inseparable trio until Michael suddenly leaves Oxford for London. The tale’s second half is told in a different but equally powerful voice through Michael’s diary, which gives insight into his childhood up through the year he spends away, as well as the reason he returns to his two companions. In sharp portrayals of the three adults, the author shows how, despite all their challenges, they are able to love and support each other. Without sentimentality or melodrama, Winman stirringly depicts how people either interfere with or allow themselves and others to follow their hearts.

Author Sarah Winman narrates her latest novel, which is about two boys who meet as tweens and become lifelong friends. Ellis, who quits school early to take the factory job his father insists on, and Michael, a free spirit who embraces life and follows his heart, make an unlikely pair, but their shared pain forges a strong bond. Winman's performance creates a dreamlike atmosphere that is appropriate for the central viewpoint: that of middle-aged Ellis reflecting on his loves and losses while facing an uncertain future. The prose is beautifully rendered, but Winman's inability to differentiate her characters while narrating prevents the listener from becoming immersed in this heartbreaking story. The novel, which examines social and family expectations, personal identity, loneliness, loss, and new beginnings, is best read in print. C.B.L. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine