Bookstagram Review: ★★★★★
"Through Tim’s eyes, we don’t just observe 1850s New York—we step inside it, feeling the hum of Broadway, the allure of Barnum’s Museum, and the raw energy of a city on the verge of modernity."
Some books tell a story. Others develop a photograph, layer by layer, until an entire world is illuminated. *Tim* by Daniel A. Sheridan is one such novel—a literary daguerreotype that captures not just a moment in time but thespirit of a city, an art form, and a young boy’s awakening to ambition and possibility.
At its core, *Tim* is about vision—not just the vision required to compose a perfect photograph, but the vision to see beyond what is immediately visible. Young Timothy O’Sullivan, an ordinary boy from Staten Island, is thrust into an extraordinary world when he is sent to apprentice under Mathew Brady, the legendary pioneer of American photography. Through Tim’s eyes, we don’t just observe 1850s New York—we step inside it, feeling the hum of Broadway, the allure of Barnum’s Museum, and the raw energy of a city on the verge of modernity.
The novel opens on September 11, 1850, as Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” prepares for her historic American debut. The entire city is bewitched by her presence, yet one man—Mathew Brady—cannot capture her likeness. P.T. Barnum, the master showman, guards her image with the same fervor that modern celebrities fight to control their own narratives. This battle over visibility, access, and artistry becomes the novel’s undercurrent, mirroring photography’s own struggle to establish itself as a serious art form.
Sheridan’s writing is almost photographic in its detail—he doesn’t just describe the world, he develops it like an image emerging from a chemical bath. The glow of gas lamps on rain-slicked streets, the metallic scent of the daguerreotype studio, the nervous energy of an apprentice hoping to prove himself—all of it is vivid, tangible, alive.
But what makes *Tim* remarkable is its deeper question: What does it mean to capture a moment? Is a photograph merely a reflection, or is it a form of immortality? Tim’s journey is not just about mastering a craft; it’s about understanding the power of perspective. ❏
Click here to read Tim book review on GoodReads.com
A stunning story of youthful determination and a nascent technology that would change the world. Sheridan's descriptive passages capture the same immersive beauty of a photograph, and he regularly brings forgotten details of the old smoky metropolis to life.
