UGH. I'm an exposed nerve. I slooooowly made my way through this ~200 page heartbreaker and I'm glad I took my time with it. The structure here allowed for maximum turmoil thrust upon the reader and I was shocked by the audacity/brilliance of Winman. I'll now & forever be a dedicated reader of her work.

Our main characters are Ellis & Michael, childhood friends (and tentative, experimental lovers) who lose touch with each other despite a close friendship established between Michael and Ellis' girlfriend and eventual wife, Annie. The story starts from Ellis' POV, after a brief story of how his mother Dora received her favorite painting, a reproduction of Van Gogh's sunflowers. Ellis is living his life without his friend or his wife (who, it's revealed early on, died in a car accident 5 years ago). He's clearly altered by his situation, despite being alone for several years and being successful at his job. Ellis breaks his arm and takes up gardening, making a decision on a whim to not return to work after his recovery. The story continues to move both forward and backward in time, through flashbacks and then in Michael's voice. I adored how this allowed for a extreme nostalgia as the reader can relate to both Ellis' and Michael's reminiscing for their youth.

Can't say more without revealing more of what lies below the surface of a somewhat lonely middle-aged Englishman, but the relationships between fathers and sons, childhood friends, and spouses- are all so touching and real. So stellar. Going to have to pick this again in the future and recommend to everyone I know.