The Tin-Kin

by Eleanor Thom

WINNER OF THE SALTIRE SOCIETY'S 'SCOTTISH FIRST BOOK OF THE YEAR' Bars on the window split the moonlight intae squares. The sky's far away. The cold flagstone on the floor and a dark ceiling that folds in on me. I look for the door, get just a sense ae it, a solid blackness shut tight in the pit ae my stomach... When her aunt Shirley dies, Dawn finds herself back in her claustrophobic home town in northern Scotland for the first time in years. In a forbidden cupboard in Shirley's flat she finds an album of photographs, curling with age, showing a Traveller community in the 1950s. A young couple poses on a beach, arms wrapped around each other; two little girls in hand-me-down kilts reveal toothless smiles; an old woman rests her hands on her hips, her head thrown back in blurry laughter. But why has her aunt treasured these pictures secretly for so long? Dawn's need for answers leads her to a group of Travellers on the outskirts of Elgin. There she learns of a young man left to die on the floor of a cell, and realises that the story of her family is about to be rewritten... Weaving between narratives and decades, The Tin Kin is a beautiful moving novel about love, hardship and the lies and legends that pass between generations. It is a striking, unforgettable debut.

Genres: Fiction, Scotland

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 12, 2009

Reviews

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Tin Kin was ultimately a disappointment. I have looked forward to reading it since its publication, but physical copies have always eluded me. Whilst this has been favourably reviewed by some of my favourite authors - Ali Smith and Janice Galloway are notable - and it is set in Scotland, I found it very - well... boring. Thom undoubtedly demonstrates writing ability, as she uses first and third person voices, as well as Scottish dialect, to craft her protagonists. Regardless, the characters never quite come to life. The sense of place seems to have been sidelined from the beginning, which is a shame.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing to me. I read it for my book group and as usual I am going to bemoan again. I never felt myself become detached from reality while reading and like any good book or film, this is an essential part of the experience for me.

The narrative shifts from one character to another spanning many decades and 3 generations. The descriptions of old photographs and mementos culminate in a young woman in present day being able to fit together pieces of an unsolved puzzle from her aunt's past which affects her life now (I was never quite sure how though). It had echoes for me of 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' by Kate Atkinson which is a wonderful book but this did not even begin to rise to level of Atkinson's wonderfully humourous, evocative and eerie look back through one family's past over a couple of generations.

The setting of Elgin in the Scottish Highlands was interesting to me although, through the book, I didn't learn too much about this as a backdrop to the story. Each chapter was told by a named person - flipping from the past to present day. The use of phonetically written broad Scots here was really instrumental in me feeling every page lasted an age in this one. I know it can be done following reading Anne Donovan recently (who does it very successfully - Buddhada etc). Living in Glasgow as I do, I consider myself well in tune with most Scottish accents but blimey, reading this was hard work and difficult to decipher. Ok, its not Irvine Welsh but it really put a barrier in my way.

As the story reached its culmination, the plot did become more interesting and the end was quite touching. Having said that, perhaps it was because the finishing post was in sight for me and I was excited about all the other books I would much rather be reading!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleanor Thom's debut novel is based partly on her own family history, the detail contained within this story is so convincing alongside the clever use of the Scottish dialect.
The story has three narrators, each coming from a different era and each having a magical use of language and eye for detail.
The modern-day narrator Dawn has recently returned to the Highland town of her youth. She has a small daughter and has escaped a violent relationship. Her Aunt Shirley who brought her up, has recently died and Dawn has inherited Shirley's flat. Dawn's parents and sister live near-by, Dawn has felt estranged from her family ever since her sister was born and her parents sent her to live with Aunt Shirley.
Running alongside Dawn's story is the story of Jock, told in 1954 by his mother and also told by his niece Wee Betsy - the same story but from a different angle. Jock's story begins as he is beaten to death in a police cell and it is Dawn who uncovers the mystery around this death, along with hidden secrets from her own immediate family whilst going through her late Aunt's possessions.
Initially I struggled with the Scottish dialect but soon became overtaken by the intriguing and compelling story line. The author ties together the three strands of this Scottish Gypsy family story together so well and the secrets soon come tumbling out of the woodwork.
A very well accomplished debut novel.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel about family secrets stretching over time and generations. Dawn returns to Elgin with her child form her aunt's funeral.She gradually uncovers family secrets. There are four narrators; one in the present (Dawn)and three in the 1950s. The 1950s narrators are from a travelling family and there is an ill-fated love affair between two people from different social backgrounds. The child's narrativr voice is very good. The dialect the 1950s narrators use takes a little getting used to.
It is an intersting story and there are shades of Romeo and Juliet; love and loss are central themes, but the pace is a little slow. nevertheless I enjoyed it and would read more by this author in the future.

[Adele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a solid story and, once I got past some of its idiosyncrasies, I enjoyed it. But I had to work at it.
It is trying to be too many things at once. A dual time line, which jumps around with little obvious connection between the sections, with prophetic visions muddled in with no clear sense of what goes where or who anyone is. Couple that with some really dense dialect, and I nearly gave up before I’d got going.
I persevered because the author had won prizes and this had been in my shelf for ages. I was pleased I did, and the pieces did slot into place as the narrative progressed, but the accent of Auld Betsy was a distraction - if even at the end of the book I have to reread for clarity, then the author has got it wrong. It took me out of the narrative at times which should have been emotionally powerful.
Essentially this seems like Dawn’s story, the story of a child unloved by her mother and recovering from an abusive marriage when her foster mother/biological aunt dies and a family secret is revealed. But it isn’t really her story. The much more interesting narrative is the story of Betsy and Jock and a travelling community under fire and trying to make their way in a world where they no longer travel but still face prejudice. A prejudice which exacts a terrible price, in more ways than are immediately obvious.
If Thom had just written that story, and toned down the dialect (or included a glossary), this would have been a much better book. As it is, it is good, but not great.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting novel which just seems to be trying to do a little too much without progressing the strands introduced. The novel alternates between the present day, when Dawn and her daughter Maeve return to the Scottish Town she grew up in following the death of her Auntie, and the 1950s,when a family who were previously travelers but are now settled have trials and tribulations. This includes Jock and Lolly, who it turns out are Dawn's parents. We follow their progress in the 1950s right upto the point where Jock finds out Lolly is pregnant, but she says she can't see him anymore as her family forbid it. He winds up dead the next day without a true explanation of how it happened. Meanwhile in the present day Dawn finds some items in her auntie's house including a picture of Jock and Lolly and a slipper which is in the picture. She goes to the oldest woman in the country, a 121 year old soothsayer, to find out some answers, but finds her ranting and raving and tugging at the arm of Maeve, who after this visit seems to gain some telepathic abilities of her own. But this is one of the strands that doesn't seem to go beyond that, and I found myself at the end of the novel thinking it was trying to be several stories at once, without telling a properly coherent tale.

[Hannah Jukes · Rating 2 out of 5]

i picked this up for like 20 pence in a charity shop and i can see why it was there.
reading in scottish dialogue sounds fun till u do it, pages took 10x longer than usual. very confused headache.
some aspects of the book were interesting but fr stick to one storyline. the main plot seemingly just got lost.

[Catriona · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting debut novel, this book explores themes including belonging, family secrets, the second sight, and the treatment of people from traveller families, all of which make for a book that is dark, oppressive and left me feeling very sad.
Recommended.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as a book group read, started off well but, for me, it lost its way and I lost interest.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit of too little too late, if i'm completely honest....
From the last updat about 80% of the way through did things become slightly interesting, due to finally having a grip of the language. It took so long to comprehend, in part it was like learning another language, as on second thought some chapters probably passed by without adding anything to the complete/overall imagery/understanding/relationship with characters.
I feel a lot was missing about the relationship with Warren and how he fits into Maeve and Dawn's life now.

If the book was a lot less of the initial stuff, a large proportion could be perhaps summarised in a few chapters and more of the later drama developed and spent more time on. This book and story would be, as harsh as it sounds, the time I've actually spent trying to decode the language of it!!


Ideally some form of dictionary should be included and perhaps a character description and family tree also, just so in especially the beginning you grasp who is who. Rather than as I, enter the last 20% of the book and actually feel like giving it the time of day, because i a) understand the language b) have a brief idea of whom each character is c) see the ties between individuals.

Perhaps one day, on re-reading I may be able to appreciate the strong scottish dialect, it's written in. But due to the fact it took over half the book to understand... I don't have high hopes, perhaps i'm just not one for this writing technique.

Definitely feel, it has widened my horizons on especially scottish linguistics of the past, and the living environments of people of another time. Although it was no where near as indepth in regards to the traveller aspect of things that i expected, it was mentioned at multiple points, but it was more skimming the surface of real life as a traveller.
Honestly expected so much more.

[Jayne Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nine pages in, this novel went all Trainspotting on me. The terrain seemed easy and then suddenly I found myself needing a sturdy pair of walking boots. Dialect, thick thick dialect, describing events I couldn’t follow. I was nervous that I wasn’t going to like or understand it, but all was well in the end.

Despite my misgivings, I would have to say the voice throughout was spot on. And I’ll spare the rant over absent speech marks, though it’s not a style I like. The whole thing had a windswept, slightly numb feel to it. The voices of the historical characters were excellent – gradations in dialect, the way personalities were revealed, one felt immersed in the culture of the traveller community at that time. I am sure the author had done her homework, but even if she hadn’t I would have believed this account, so rich in detail was the prose.
I was surprised how early the central secret came out. There seemed little left to reveal – mostly things I had worked out. There were cleverly dropped clues along the way, meaning the reader could join the dots; what remained at the end was personality time and atmospherics. I really felt as though I was inhabiting a 3D world.

A glossary might have helped with the early stages, though finding one’s way through the dialect chapters unaided does give the reader a sense of achievement.

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is set in Elgin in NE Scotland in two eras - in the recent past when Dawn returns to the town to clear out the flat of her deceased aunt and in the 1950s when a family of travellers are trying to settle down in the town. There are multiple narrators and much of the dialogue is written in the Doric, the dialect of this part of Scotland.

I first heard about this book a couple of years ago in an episode of BBC Two's The Culture Show which looked at new British novelists, and made a note to read it when I got round to it. I'm from NE Scotland myself and work on my family tree has shown that I'm descended from travellers so I was keen to read it.

I enjoyed the familiar language and had no problem with the dialect, but overall I found the book a bit disappointing. I enjoyed the 1950s sections much more than Dawn and her present-day story which I felt was left too unresolved. I know that life can be like that sometimes, but she seemed totally adrift on a number of levels, which made me feel that the book just stopped rather than finished.

The narrative structure took a bit of getting used to as there are a number of narrators so it took a while to be able to keep up with the chanages of narrator and work out what this meant for the story.

I did enjoy the novel, but it left me with a feeling of incompletness rather than of having had a satisfying read.

[Jaffareadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tin Kin is an unusual debut novel from a young story teller, who expertly uses her own family background, in order to capture the essence of poverty, deprivation and tragedy in a gypsy family in 1950’s Scotland. The narrator, Dawn, escaping an unhappy relationship, returns with her child, to her roots in present day Northern Scotland. She discovers a long buried family secret, which is expertly uncovered in a series of flashback vignettes, revealing the story of lives shattered by misfortune and mistrust. The flashback episodes are a delight to read, told in the vernacular, and with a dialect so strong, the text literally leaps off the page and into the subconscious. The characterisation is strong and meaningful, and I felt quite emotional at the end of the novel. I even found myself tempted to re read the whole thing again, in order to revisit some of the scenes. There is humour amongst the pathos, and some laugh out loud moments which help to lighten what is inevitably a story about loss.
On a personal level I found this an enthralling read, beautifully written with an empathic spirit that pervades throughout the narrative. I am sure that it would make an interesting book group read and would initiate lively discussion.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book but found it slower going than I had expected. The split perspective is effective but could benefit from a bit more link between the two in order to give the reader more of a taste of where the story is going. I found the ending a little less satisfying than I had predicted, but I can't quite put my finger on why: perhaps I would have liked to know more about what became of some of the characters.

[Andrew]

recommended by Guardian's "best of new novelists" article Feb-11

[Fran Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant debut novel. A little slow to get going, but once you get into to, at the stories start to weave together, it becomes clear why. A very rewarding read.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written. A bit slow and hard to follow.

[Ruan Peat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the language and dialect but found it a bit long winded.

[Elaine]

Hoping I can understand the Doric in this, as it sounds like a great read!