The Testimony of Taliesin Jones

by Rhidian Brook

Everything in Taliesin Jones's small-town life in Wales has suddenly become uncertain. His mother has run off with her hairdresser. His father has taken to talking to the walls, but at least he's talking, as his brother has gone entirely mute. 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.

Genres: Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 1996

About the author

Rhidian Brook (born 1964) is a novelist, screenwriter and broadcaster.

His first novel, The Testimony Of Taliesin Jones (Harper Collins) won three prizes, including the 1997 Somerset Maugham Award, and was made into a film starring Jonathan Pryce. His second novel, Jesus And The Adman (Harper Collins) was published in 1999. His third novel, The Aftermath, was published in April 2013 by Penguin UK, Knopf US and a further 18 publishers around the world. His short stories have been published by The Paris Review, Punch, The New Statesman, Time Out and others; and several were broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Short Story.

His first commission for television - Mr Harvey Lights A Candle - was broadcast in 2005 on BBC1 and starred Timothy Spall. He wrote for the BBC series Silent Witness between 2005-7, and the factual drama Atlantis for BBC1 in 2008. Africa United, his first feature film (Pathe), went on general release in the UK in October 2010. He is adapting The Aftermath as a feature for Scott Free and BBC Film.

He has written articles for papers, including The Observer, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. In 2005, he presented Nailing The Cross, a documentary for BBC1. In 2006 he broadcast a series In The Blood for BBC World Service, recording his family’s journey through the AIDS pandemic. His book about that journey - More Than Eyes Can See - was published by Marion Boyars in 2007.

He has been a regular contributor to Radio 4’s "Thought For The Day" for more than twelve years.

He lives with his wife and two children in London.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

He has taken a certain comfort in his possessions. There is a reliability in inanimate objects: they aren’t difficult to converse with, they have no hidden agenda, and they can be relied upon not to desert him. — Chapter 14.

Eleven-year-old Taliesin Jones has reached a pivotal moment in his young life: he’s not long started secondary education, his parents have just separated, he has no friends, and he’s not sure whether or not to believe in God.

His mother has taken up with a hairdresser, his father seems lost, his older brother is distracted by sport and a girlfriend, and Taliesin’s bullied at school; the only friendly faces are the village grocer with a walrus-moustache, who supplies Tal with apples – and once with pomegranates – and his patient piano teacher, Billy Evans, who’s also a natural healer.

Living on a relatively isolated farm in West Wales it’s unsurprising, therefore, that he takes refuge in his few possessions, and especially in his books – his atlas of the world, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies and a children’s illustrated bible. In the shifting sands of uncertainty Taliesin is desperate for something dependable to cling to, and the novel chronicles his efforts to find what it is.

It’s too simplistic to say this is merely a coming-of-age story, a Bildungsroman, because sooner or later we all reach that defining moment that sets our philosophical stance for the foreseeable future; and it’s also too easy to say this in essence may be autofiction just because there must surely be aspects that reflect the Welsh author’s childhood experiences, perhaps with suggestions of an early existential crisis.

But undoubtedly there are elements of both in this ‘testimony’ offered by our omniscient narrator. Taliesin seems to sense the unfairness and seeming lack of purpose in his life echoed in Orwell’s political satire and Golding’s fatalistic novel: he has no interest in his brother’s sports obsession; his parents have long ceased going to chapel, while his singular attendances at a village chapel service and Christmas midnight mass in West Haven merely confuses him.

It’s when he witnesses Billy Evans healing with the laying on of hands that he has a damascene moment, compounded by the warts on his fingers apparently being cured in the same fashion. The repercussions of this experience will affect his relationship with the class bully, the class vamp, and his little gang called The Believers, but doesn’t resolve his anxieties about his distant mother or his fragile father.

This novel I think captures quite well Taliesin’s character as ‘an innocent abroad’ in school and in society generally; the name of course references the sixth-century Welsh bard whose verses survive from the later medieval period but who also features in an early modern folktale: this Taliesin, originally called Gwion Bach – ‘fair or blessed youth’ – accidentally supped from a magical cauldron of inspiration belonging to a witch called Ceridwen. Might bookish master Jones also follow in the footsteps of his early medieval namesake?

This bittersweet tale feels very credible, partly because it’s rooted in a corner of Wales that could well exist. The names of places are of course fictional but they echo real locations: Cwmglum could be anywhere either side of the border between Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, and nearby Prescelli – where Taliesin goes to school, and which lies around forty miles from West Haven by train – shares its name with the Preseli Hills. The towns of Haverfordwest and Milford Haven are doubtless referenced by West Haven, where Taliesin’s mother now lives with hairdresser Toni, but the pastel façades of its buildings overlooking the harbour owe much to Tenby, where the author grew up.

The Testimony of Taliesin Jones was Rhidian Brook’s debut novel, and in many ways reflects his broadcast musings about religion as a contributor to the so-called “God-slot”, BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, where he regularly questions religious beliefs while trying not to alienate non-believers. But he at least tries to distance his personal life from Taliesin’s: for example, the ‘desert war’ which occasionally appears in news reports clearly nods towards the 1990-1 Gulf War and not any earlier conflict.

This then is a quiet, almost parochial short novel; while not as powerful as his later offering The Aftermath (2013) it’s at least as thoughtful, and though less impressive still drawn with strongly delineated characters.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small quiet book in which an eleven year old Welsh boy asks questions fundamental to life. ‘The Testimony of Taliesin Jones’ by Rhidian Brook is the story of Taliesin and his questions about how God fits into his life. “At night the questions come: why am I here and not there? Why am I me and not them? Before I was me, where was I?” It is a novel about growing up, about change, uncertainty and belief, set in Cwmglum, a small rural community in West Wales.
Taliesin’s father is a sheep farmer, his older brother Jonathan has recently gained a girlfriend and learned how to swear convincingly. Their mother left home last year and now lives in West Haven with Toni the hairdresser. “The events of last year linger around the rooms in petrified time. When Taliesin’s mother left, the clocks in the house all stopped. It was she who set the pendulum swinging and it was always her who turned the key of the carriage clock that ticked a furious little tick on the mantelpiece in the sitting room.” Everything that was safe and predictable in Taliesin’s life is suddenly different. And warts are growing all over his hands.
Influenced by the books he reads – his latest book is ‘Lord of the Flies’ – he asks questions, his thoughts peppered with quotes from books he has read. He is anxious, bullied at school, and must find a way to tell his piano teacher Billy Evans that he can’t read music and has been pretending while muddling through by listening. And then he sees Billy, who is also a healer, straighten the back of a bent old woman. When Billy makes Taliesin’s warts disappear, Taliesin wants to heal too and sets up a group at school called The Believers.
I fell for this book from the first page in which Taliesin explores his latest book, an atlas, sent by his mother for his birthday. “He opens the book and releases a smell of paper, a fresh smell that reminds him of exercise books distributed at the beginning of a new school year: green for Geography, pink for Biology, grey for Religious Education.”
This is a book about faith, but it is about so much more. A boy looking for his place in the world, trying to make sense of things, as we all do. It is a simple story, sometimes touching, sometimes funny, with a depth that makes it stay with you afterwards.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was beautiful but not engaging enough to hold my attention. I started the book on the recommendation of a friend but kept finding other books more interesting to read. It really should have taken less time to finish the novel. But I did like the descriptions of Taliesin's inner life. All his questions and observations were child-like. The end of the story was a wonderful word picture. I appreciated Brook's text more at the end than I did at the start and the middle. There was one line that I highlighted as funny. Billy tells Taliesin "You must pray that God will help them. Don't wait for time to heal. Time isn't a great healer--whoever said that hasn't lived. Time is time--it does nothing. It's God that does the healing."p163

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taliesin Jones has much to cope with, at eleven years of age his parents are about to split up, his older brother is now into girls, the school bully has him down as his next target, warts have appeared on his fingers, and it seems he is in a minority in his belief in God. How does an otherwise ordinary boy living in a small Welsh village cope when all around him seem to have more important concerns?

While he may be just an ordinary boy, he has a remarkable faith, and encouraged by his ageing music teacher Taliesin proves himself.

This is a delightful tale, beautifully told in descriptive prose that is is both rewarding and enjoyable.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quiet, gentle, profoundly religious coming-of-age Welsh novel about a boy and his burgeoning faith in God as his family unit deteriorates. It is only 200 pages, so I’m not sure why it took me over a month to finish it. Much like life in its small-town setting, the pace of this book is very slow and not a lot happens in the story, but Taliesin’s rich inner life undergoes major changes. Interesting and very beautifully written.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

An 11 year old boy named Taliesin has a difficult year. His mother leaves the home to live with a boyfriend, His father barely pays attention or speaks to anyone. His piano teacher Billy befriends him. Tailesin learns to use prayer to heal himself and others. A sweet book, nice story. I would give this a 3.5.

[Becky Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

A surprise in looking for Welsh writers and stories. This popped up. It is funny and moving and heart-breaking. Just a lovely coming of age novel. Couldn't put it down. For those who said it didn't hold their attention, it just wasn't their book. Not every book is for every person. I read it over two days.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming of age book in rural Wales.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the beginning of the book and Taliesin's voice … but then it got a bit too religious for me haha. I should have expected that after reading the blurb.

[Madelyn VK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spiritual coming of age story. I really enjoyed the lyrical writing.

[Helen Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a cute, quirky little book. A bit too short to go into enough detail on the range of issues it tried to cover though. Would have preferred more focus or more length.
I liked lines like this which illustrate that period of growing up where logic takes over from imagination - 'He was running from nothing but his imagination. The dragon is retreating fast in his mind, running from the inevitable appearance of maturity and sense.'

[Huan-hua]

I picked this up on impulse when I saw it in the library because I've always had a soft spot for books about Wales despite the fact that I've never been there and don't know much about it. I'm enjoying this! A clear, sweet little book so far.

[Laura Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book for kids and adults.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an unusual book - I liked it - it may not be everybody's cup of tea. It is about Tallesin's relationship with God and how he explores it.

[Feby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well-written.