Tiny Pieces Of Enid by Tim Ewins

 

Tiny Pieces of Enid by Tim Ewins.

Published in paperback 9th May 2023 by Eye and Lightning.

From the cover of the book:

Enid isn’t clear about much these days. But she does feel a strong affinity with Olivia, a regular visitor to her dementia home in a small coastal town. If only she could put her finger on why.

Their silent partnership intensifies when Enid, hoping to reconnect with her husband Roy, escapes from the home. With help from an imaginary macaw, she uncovers some uncomfortable truths about Olivia’s marriage and delves into her own forgotten past.

A deeply touching story of love, age and companionship, evoking the unnoticed everyday moments that can mean the world to the people living them, Tim Ewins’ second novel will delight fans of his acclaimed debut, We Are Animals.

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Enid has been losing her grip on reality for a while, and although her husband Roy has done his best to keep her deterioration secret, the time has come for some changes. Against Roy's wishes, their daughter Barb reluctantly arranges for Enid to be admitted to a dementia home - a decision that plagues her with guilt, even though she knows her father can no longer cope.

The dementia home is comfortable, and the staff are caring and attentive, but Enid struggles to think of these unfamiliar surroundings as home, and she misses Roy's calm presence terribly. She understands little about what is going on around her, but she feels drawn to a regular visitor of a fellow resident - something about young wife and mother Olivia's situation calls to Enid... if only she could work out why.

Enid cannot settle. An imaginary macaw, conjured from the depths of her fractured memories, urges her to make a break for it in search of Roy - an adventure that allows Enid and Olivia to understand why they feel a connection, and helps Olivia find the courage to make some important changes of her own.

Tiny Pieces of Enid is an incredibly moving story that explores a host of themes around aging, dementia (based in part about Ewin's own beloved Nanny Enid), and domestic abuse. Undeniably, these are heavy subjects, but Ewins applies a deft hand to all the emotive topics examined with great sensitivity and insight, taking great care to look at these subjects from more than one angle. The cornerstone of the novel is love, an element especially observed through the long and happy marriage of Enid and Roy. Ewins writes with such tenderness about the moments of joy that they have shared together over the years - the simple moments of real affection, companionship, and shared experiences that make up a life. Threaded throughout are darker themes that look at minds and bodies succumbing to the ravages of time; as well as the effect of controlling relationships, and domestic abuse. In parallel, he considers the agonising weight of responsibility of an adult child navigating the minefield of deciding what is best for aging parents who can no longer live independently, and the nagging guilt that comes with such unenviable decisions - I promise much of this will resonate painfully with those among you have been through this situation.

Despite the subject matter, and the fact that there are scenes aplenty that are deeply affecting, this is not a gruelling book to read. The characters lead the story as it moves back and forth in time between the narrations of Enid, Olivia and Barb, and it is feelings of warmth, care, and hope that ensure the story is ultimately an uplifting one. Enid's personality shines out from the page throughout, with episodes which convey her sense of humour and determination to to help Olivia, even when her dementia confines her to a world of shifting memories and unfamiliar faces.

Ewins has an intriguing ability to use animals to echo the human experience in his books - which you will be aware of if you have read his incredible debut, We Are Animals. In this second book, he employs the motif of birds, and flight, to beautifully enhance his themes with some very clever symbolism: the unflinching dedication of a pair of blackbirds, raising their chicks; the hopeful optimism of seagulls hoping for a tasty morsel; and the persistent presence of the macaw that invades Enid's thoughts, drawn from the depths of her psyche - all are used brilliantly. 

This book made me laugh, it made me sob, and it made me ponder. It hits the emotional bitter-sweet spot that marks it as a very special novel: one that stays will you long after you have closed the cover. This is easily one of my books of 2023, and I cannot recommend it to you enough.

Little Pieces of Enid is available to buy now in ebook and paperback formats. You can buy it direct from stellar indie publisher Eye and Lightning HERE.

Thank you to Eye and Lightning for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Alongside his accidental career in finance, Tim Ewins performed in stand-up comedy for eight years. He also had a very brief acting stint (he’s in the film Bronson, somewhere in the background) before turning to writing fiction. His first novel, We Are Animals, was published by Lightning Books in 2021. He lives with his wife, son, cat and dog near Bristol.