Shortlisted for the 2017 Costa Novel Award, Tin Man is the beautiful and heartbreaking new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international bestseller WHEN GOD WAS A RABBIT. Out this week in paperback.

Title: Tin Man

Author: Sarah Winman

Published: March 22nd 2018 by Tinder Press

Amazon | Amazon UK

Blurb: 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.

Review: As soon as I finished Tin Man, I wanted to re-read it immediately. What a beautiful and touching story. 

As they say, good things come in small packages and Tin Man is the perfect example, short of 200 pages, this novel is full of emotions and a beauty like no other. It's difficult to put into words what makes this book so special, but I think what captivated me the most were the three main characters, especially Ellis and Michael, and how well developed they were.

While reading about them, I was completely immersed in their lives, I celebrated their little achievements and joys and cried their loses and failures with them. They broke my heart and mended it and they even kept a little bit with them. Since I finished reading Tin Man, I've been missing them immensely. I'm quite sure I'll think of this story whenever I see a sunflower from now on. 

With a beautiful narrative, Tin man is a exquisite story about love, friendship and loss. I have no doubt that it will be one of my top reads of the year.

Rating: 5 stars

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

A quick update on my moving situation: I'm surrounded by boxes and I still haven't rescued my books! However, the Husband has promised me a bookshelf with a ladder (a ladder!) so I am surviving... just! Good news is March is going to be such a great bookish month! I've actually read quite a few of these new releases already and I can tell you that some brilliant books are coming our way:

Ready to Fall by Marcella Pixley - March 1st

When Max Friedman's mother dies of cancer, instead of facing his loss, he imagines that her tumour has taken up residence in his brain. It's a terrible tenant - isolating him from family, distracting him in school, and taunton him mercilessly about his manhood. With the tumour in charge, Max implodes, slipping farther and farther away from reality.

Finally, Max is sent to the artsy, off-beat Baldwin School to regain his footing. He joins a group of theatre misfits in a steam-punk production of Hamlet where he becomes friends with Fish, a girl with pink hair and a troubled past, and The Monk, an edgy upperclassman who refuses to let go of the things he loves. For a while, Max almost feels happy. But his tumour is always lurking in the wings - until one night it knocks him down and Max is forced to face the truth, not just about the tumour, but about how hard it is to let go of the past. At turns lyrical, haunting, and triumphant, Ready to Fall is a story of grief, love, rebellion and starting fresh from acclaimed author Marcella Pixley. 

Why so excited: I've recently received a review copy of this book and I am very intrigued. It sounds like a very special story that will probably break my heart a little.

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Flying Tips for Flightless Birds by Kelly McCaughrain - March 1st

From debut author Kelly McCaughrain comes a sweet and kooky romcom for fans of R. J. Palacio's Wonder, Sarah Crossan, and Susin Nielsen's We Are All Made of Molecules. Twins Finch and Birdie Franconi are stars of the flying trapeze. But when Birdie suffers a terrifying accident, Finch must team up with the geeky new kid, Hector Hazzard, to form an all-boys double act and save the family circus school. Together they learn to walk the high-wire of teen life and juggle the demands of friends, family, first love and facing up to who they are – all served up with a dash of circus-showbiz magic.

Why so excited: first, I love the cover. It's so colourful and cute. And second, I love the circus. And if that wasn't enough, this story has describes as witty and clever and I'm sure it will surprise me more than once. 

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Almost Love by Louise O'neill - March 1st

When Sarah falls for Matthew, she falls hard.

So it doesn't matter that he's twenty years older. That he sees her only in secret. That, slowly but surely, she's sacrificing everything else in her life to be with him.

Sarah's friends are worried. Her father can't understand how she could allow herself to be used like this. And she's on the verge of losing her job.

But Sarah can't help it. She is addicted to being desired by Matthew.

And love is supposed to hurt.

Isn't it?

Why so excited: after two very important and powerful YA novels, Louise O'neill is releasing her first adult novel and the first reviews are saying it is honest, raw and bold. This will definitely jump to the top of my tbr pile.

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The Key by Kathryn Hughes - March 1st

1956 

It's Ellen Crosby's first day as a student nurse at Ambergate County Lunatic Asylum. When she meets a young woman committed by her father, and a pioneering physician keen to try out the various 'cures' for mental illness, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change all their lives for ever...

2006

Sarah is drawn to the abandoned Ambergate Asylum. Whilst exploring the old corridors she discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who was admitted fifty years earlier. The shocking contents lead Sarah to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy, lost love and an old wrong that only she may have the power to put right...

It's time to discover what a million readers already know. No one grips your heart like Kathryn Hughes...

Why so excited: I've already read and reviewed this one and it is a very atmospheric, heartbreaking and intriguing read that will shock and surprise you. Check my full review here.

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The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton - March 8th

Juliette loves Nate.

She will follow him anywhere. She's even become a flight

attendant for his airline, so she can keep a closer eye on him.

They are meant to be.

The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing.

Because Juliette has a plan to win him back.

She is the perfect girlfriend.

And she'll make sure no one stops her from

getting exactly what she wants.

True love hurts, but Juliette knows it's worth all the pain...

Why so excited: I have a review copy of this and it's gonna be my next read. I am very intrigued by the sound of it and I've seen some smashing early reviews already. 

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Bring Me Back by BA Paris - March 8th

The Disappearance

Twelve years ago Finn’s girlfriend disappeared.

The Suspicion

He told the police the truth about that night.

Just not quite the whole truth.

The Fear

Now Finn has moved on.

But his past won’t stay buried…

Why so excited: another one I've already read, and wow! It's a dark and twisted story that kept surprising me until the last page. Come back next week for my 5 stars review.

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Sunshine at the Comfort Food Café by Debbie Johnson - March 8th

My name is Willow Longville. I live in a village called Budbury on the stunning Dorset coast with my mum Lynnie, who sometimes forgets who I am. I’m a waitress at the Comfort Food Café, which is really so much more than a café… it’s my home.

For Willow, the ramshackle café overlooking the beach, together with its warm-hearted community, offers friendship as a daily special and always has a hearty welcome on the menu. But when a handsome stranger blows in on a warm spring breeze, Willow soon realises that her quiet country life will be changed forever.

Why so excited: I love the Comfort Food Café. I've completely fallen in love with this series, its characters and of course, the cosy setting. I am so glad that Willow, who has been a secondary characters in all other stories, gets the spotlight in this one! Definitely one of my most anticipated books this year.

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Hetty's Farmhouse Bakery by Cathy Bramley - March 22nd

Thirty-two-year-old Hetty Greengrass is the star around which the rest of her family orbits. Marriage, motherhood and helping Dan run Sunnybank Farm have certainly kept her hands full for the last twelve years. But when her daughter Poppy has to choose her inspiration for a school project and picks her aunt, not her mum, Hetty is left full of self-doubt.

Hetty’s always been generous with her time and until now, her biggest talent – baking deliciously moreish shortcrust pastry pies – has been limited to charity work and the village fete. But taking part in a competition run by Cumbria’s Finest to find the very best produce from the region might be just the thing to make her daughter proud... and reclaim something for herself.

Except that life isn’t as simple as producing the perfect pie. Changing the status quo isn’t easy – and with cracks appearing in her marriage and shocking secrets coming to light, Hetty must decide where her priorities really lie...

Why so excited: Well, Cathy Bramley is one of my favourite authors and her stories are like a ray of sunshine, so touching and up-lifting. This one sounds exactly like that and I cannot wait to discover it. 

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The Fear by CL Taylor - March 22nd 

Sometimes your first love won’t let you go…

When Lou Wandsworth ran away to France with her teacher Mike Hughes, she thought he was the love of her life. But Mike wasn’t what he seemed and he left her life in pieces.

Now 32, Lou discovers that he is involved with teenager Chloe Meadows. Determined to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself, she returns home to confront him for the damage he’s caused.

But Mike is a predator of the worst kind, and as Lou tries to bring him to justice, it’s clear that she could once again become his prey…

Why so excited: If Cathy Bramley is my go-to author for feel-good stories, CL Taylor is my go-to for psychological thrillers. They are always SO good. And early reviews are saying that this is her best one yet. Who wouldn't be excited?

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Last Letter Home by Rachel Gore - March 22nd

On holiday with friends, young historian Briony Andrews becomes fascinated with a wartime story of a ruined villa in the hills behind Naples. There is a family connection: her grandfather had been a British soldier during the Italian campaign of 1943 in that very area. Handed a bundle of letters that were found after the war, Briony sets off to trace the fate of their sender, Sarah Bailey.

In 1939, Sarah returns with her mother and sister from India, in mourning, to take up residence in the Norfolk village of Westbury. There she forms a firm friendship with Paul Hartmann, a young German who has found sanctuary in the local manor house, Westbury Hall. With the outbreak of war, conflicts of loyalty in Westbury deepen.

When, 70 years later, Briony begins to uncover Sarah and Paul’s story, she encounters resentments and secrets still tightly guarded. What happened long ago in the villa in the shadow of Vesuvius, she suspects, still has the power to give terrible pain…

Why so excited: I read this one a few weeks ago and I am still thinking about it. A very well-crafted dual-time story with love letters at its core. Who doesn't love a book with love letters?

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The Allotment Girls by Kate Thompson - March 22nd

The Allotment Girls is an inspiring and heartwarming novel of wartime hardship, friendship and fortitude from Kate Thompson, author of the Secrets of the Sewing Bee.

During the Second World War, life in the iconic Bryant & May match factory is grimy and tough. Annie, Rose, Pearl and Millie carry on making matches for the British Army, with bombs raining down around them.

Inspired by the Dig for Victory campaign, Annie persuades the owners to start Bryant & May allotment in the factory grounds. With plenty of sweat and toil, the girls eventually carve out a corner of the yard into a green plot full of life and colour.

In the darkest of times, the girls find their allotment a tranquil, happy escape. Using pierced dustbin lids to sieve through the shrapnel and debris, they bring about a powerful change, not just in the factory, but their own lives.

As the war rages on, the garden becomes a place of community, friendship – and deceit. As the garden thrives and grows, so do the girls' secrets...

Why so excited: this is Kate Thompson's fourth book and after having read and loved the three previous ones, I am, of course, really looking forward to this one. I always love getting these glimpses of what living in the East End was like during WWII.

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Tin Man by Sarah Winman - March 23rd

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.

Tin Man sees Sarah Winman follow the acclaimed success of When God Was A Rabbit and A Year Of Marvellous Ways with a love letter to human kindness and friendship, loss and living.

Why so excited: Described as an exquisitely crafted tale of love and loss, Tin Man was first published last year as a hardback and the paperback is finally coming out this month. It looks and sounds stunning.

Order it now!