Testimony of Taliesin Jones, The (movie tie-in) [Paperback]

Rhidian Brook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2001

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.

"A beautiful meditation on childhood. . . . Brook's voice has been plucked from the babbling tongues of his country and made new."(The Times, London)

"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)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The youngest son of a Welsh farmer tries to deal with his parent's impending divorce by turning to faith healing in Brook's poignant first novel. Taliesin Jones is a quiet, introspective 11-year-old boy who immerses himself in the world of books to escape the harsh reality of his family's collapse when his mother leaves his father to live with her hairdresser. The boy's efforts prove problematic until he forms a connection with his piano teacher, an elderly former roofer named Billy who also dabbles in faith healing. Billy allows the boy to participate in the "cure" of an older woman with spinal problems, leading Jones to form a gang called the Believers, whose efforts are based on prayer and the laying on of hands. Their first candidate for a potential cure is an athletic but diabetic school chum, but the effort backfires when the boy's parents protest the healing and Taliesin is forced to "testify" about his beliefs at a class assembly. The result of that assembly is a connection with the class bully who had been Taliesin's nemesis, leading Jones to some small but important revelations abut his future and his potential gift. The plotting is decidedly on the spare side, but Brook writes eloquently about the pain of a family about to fall apart, and he also does some graceful, understated work in bringing to life his smalltown characters. The coming-of-age story isn't new, but the combination of a well-drawn protagonist and Brook's ability to bring a unique community to life bode well for his literary future. (Jan.)Forecast: The film version of Brook's novel has been getting rave reviews on the festival circuit. If it takes off in the U.S. when it opens, expect strong sales; otherwise, this may get lost among similar coming-of-age stories.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Rhidian Brook was born in Tenby, South Wales. The Testimony of Taliesin Jones received the Somerset Maugham and Betty Task Awards and was short-listed for the Welsh Novel of the Year. He is also the author of the novel Jesus and The Adman.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142001570
• ISBN-13: 978-0142001578
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,319,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believers sometimes fail, February 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Testimony of Taliesin Jones, The (movie tie-in) (Paperback)

This is a wonderfully uplifting story of a young Welsh boy trying to find his way in a confusing world...which became confusing when his mother ran off with her hairdresser for reasons Taliesin doesn't understand, but which Brook makes clear to the reader. Though the story is told from the boy's point of view, the reader is in the position to see that he is working out his own salvation in the stumbling way of the seeker who knows where he is going and why, he just doesn't know how.
What is endearing is his great "plan" which comes to naught as does most of our plans. Tal is just so normal.
I've passed around my copy and encouraged the public library to buy one for their shelves. The paragraph about the Skin Clock is worth the price of the book!
I would love to read Brook's other book, Jesus and the Adman. His skill with words, character development and setting are exemplary although plot resolution was a bit weak...still a heartwarming read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Welsh classic, January 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Testimony of Taliesin Jones, The (movie tie-in) (Paperback)

This is a moving, wonderfully written portrait of a Welsh boy with 'still-growing eyes' emerging out of childhood into a world of new uncertainty and possibility. Destined to become a Welsh classic. Buy it and spread the word.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Welsh Triumph, March 27, 2002

By 

Jasmine (Fulham, London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Testimony of Taliesin Jones, The (movie tie-in) (Paperback)

Beautifully written....Taliesin Jones sparkles with that sort of childhood innocence that we all wish we still had...Author Rhidian Brook paints a spectacular technicolour picture of 11-year-old Taliesin Jones growing up in Cwmglum, Wales. Taliesin's increasingly dysfunctional family (his mother's run off with the hairdresser, his father keeps hoping she'll come back, and his brother is completely taciturn) spurs his thirst to find out whether there really is a Christian God. Through his piano teacher and mentor, Billy Evans, who happens to be a healer (that is, one who heals by praying), Taliesin comes to grasps with who he is, who his God is, and growing up in his place in Welsh society.
The language in which this delightful novel is written captivates and provides a vivid mental picture. One finds themselves thinking what Taliesin is thinking, seeing what he is seeing, and searching for his answer along with him everys step of the way.
Fantastic.