review 1: The Tin Box is the story of William, a newly divorced man, who moves into an old mental institution as a caretaker while working on his dissertation. He befriends Colby, a very out and proud man who works at the general store/post office. While exploring the institution, William discovers a tin box hidden in the walls of one of the patients rooms. Inside are letters written by a man named Billy, who was committed for being gay to his lover. The letters give you a very sad history of the mental health profession.This is definitely a story of self - discovery and acceptance. William and Colby were great characters and I was really into their story. Billy's story wad also enthralling and I found myself needing to know more about him. This was definitely a 5 star read ... morefor me. review 2: There's a phrase that my mom always says, and his phrase goes "Nadie experimenta en cabeza ajena", that would be something like no one learns through other people's experiences. However, every once in a while we learn other people stories and those stories might influence us.William is an extremely reserved 32 year old closeted gay man who is going through a divorce. All this left him with practically no possessions and no place to live so for a while he's been living in his office. He's working on his dissertation when he's offered a new place to live, rent free. This place is an old psychiatric Asylum which happens to be in the middle of nowhere with just a few towns near by. After a couple of days living in the hospital Will decides to take a trip to the town nearby, Jelley's Valley. In one of the local stores he meets Colby. Colby is the opposite of Will, in every sense of the word. Where Will is reserved and uptight, Colby is very easy going and fun. Where Will is very insecure and controller, Colby is very confident and relaxed. From the very start is very obvious that Colby feels drawn to Will, and while the same isn't as obvious on Will's part, the attraction is still there. Eventually, the two of them form a close bond.During his first days at the Asylum he decides to wander around the place to get a bit familiarized with the building. In one of the rooms, hidden behind a tile, he finds a tin box. He takes it and revises the contents. The tin box is full of letters, and that's how we get introduced to Bill, a patient who lived in the asylum and wrote many letters to a boyfriend he had. The letters caused me a wide range of emotions. Some of them made me feel plain sad, others completely heartbroken and there were some that made me feel absolutely furious. All of them made me feel completely helpless, just the same way Will felt. After deciding that he needed to know what had happened with Bill he asks Colby to help him, and he does, at lest for a while.The thing is that, through all the installment the reader sees how much Bill's story influenced and helped Will to fight his demons and lose the fear to be himself. It didn't mind that the letters were 50 or 60 years old, or that he obviously had never really met the man. Thanks to Bill he found the strength to come out and finally live. I left out a lot of things in this review. I tried (I hope successfully) to avoid writing spoilers, -at least the big ones.. lol-. The story is really good. It caught my attention from the moment I picked the book up. The writing was nice and very entertaining. The characters were well shaped..And even though I had problems with liking Will in the beginning it came a moment when I understood him and admired him. Colby was absolutely adorable, in every sense of the word. I wanted to smack him a couple of times, but I understood him at the same time. less
