The Testimony of Taliesin Jones - Softcover

Brook, Rhidian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241972140 ISBN 13: 9780241972144

Publisher: Penguin, 2014

Synopsis

The Testimony of Talieson Jones is a lyrical and acutely perceptive coming-of-age tale about faith, doubt and growing up, from Rhidian Brook, the accalimed author of The Aftermath.

Taliesin Jones is a boy on the brink of adulthood, faced for the first time with life's biggest questions.

Taliesin's life is falling apart: his mother has run off with her hairdresser, his father's temper is out of control and his brother has been ominously mute for weeks. Even more distressing than Taliesin's dysfunctional family are his classmates' claims that God does not exist. Deeply troubled by life's uncertainty, the boy seeks answers in the unlikely figure of Billy Evans, an old man with an exceptional - possibly even miraculous - talent.

The Testimony of Taliesin Jones is an extraordinary novel, exploring the space between childhood and adulthood, between belief and doubt.

'A beautiful meditation on childhood... and a panacea for a cynical age' The Times

'A rare, beautiful evocation of childhood, faith and hope. Extraordinary. I utterly believed it' Victoria Hislop, author of The Island

'Brook's debut is one of quiet miracles . . . in the marvellous way he is able to convince us of the power of faith' Sunday Times

'Poetic' Guardian

Rhidian Brook is an award-winning writer of fiction, television drama and film. The Testimony of Taliesin Jones won several prizes, including the Somerset Maugham Award. His short stories have appeared in numerous publications, including the Paris Review, New Statesman and Time Out, and have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. He is also a regular contributor to 'Thought For The Day' on the Today programme.

About this title

Review:

A beautiful meditation on childhood... and a panacea for a cynical age (The Times)

You'll find yourself seduced by the quiet power of the Welshman's prose, the subtlety of his narrative technique, with its onion-skin layers of meaning, sympathy and revelation (Time Out)

Touching, humorous and poetic (Literary Review)

Brook's debut is one of quiet miracles... implictly in the marvellous way he is able to convince us of the power of faith (Sunday Times)

The accomplished patterns and Brook's easy style form a readable and poetic first novel (Guardian)

Subtle and sublime. Brook's novel is far out of the ordinary run... (Western Mail)

As fresh as spring water (Daily Telegraph)

From the Back Cover:

WINNER OF A BETTY TRASK AWARD

Everything in Taliesin Jones’ life has suddenly become uncertain. His mother has left home with her hairdresser, his father talks to the wall, and his brother won’t talk at all. At school, Julie Dyer blows confusing smoke rings at him and Hoop the Mental says there is no God. When Taliesin tries to find this out for sure no-one seems to have the answer – no-one except Billy Evans, an old man with an exceptional and miraculous talent.

“Not just an impressive first novel – an impressive any novel ... in short, a healing read”
MICHAEL CARSON, author of 'Sucking Sherbet Lemons'

“The accomplished patterns and Brook’s easy style form a readable and poetic first novel”
GUARDIAN

“A touching novel, humorous and poetic ... as competent and assured as the publisher’s claim”
LITERARY REVIEW

“A beautiful meditation on childhood ... Brook’s voice has been plucked from the babbling tongues of his country and made new”
RUSSELL CELYN JONES, 'The Times'

“Very upright, very moral, very entertaining ... you’ll find yourself seduced by the quiet power of the Welshman’s prose, the subtlety of his narrative technique, with its onion-skin layers of meaning, sympathy and revelation”
TIME OUT

“Subtle and sublime, Brook’s first novel is far out of the ordinary run. It seems a more sensible generation of writer is struggling to assert itself”
WESTERN MAIL

“An astounding debut novel ... moving, poignant, humorous, always spot on”
GAIR RHYDD

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0241972140
• ISBN 13: 9780241972144
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208