Clay

David Almond (author)

Hodder Children's Books, UK: 2005; 296pp

ISBN: 0340773847

Note: extension concepts

Genres: allegory, realistic fiction, surreal

Issues: change, choices, ethics, friendship, identity

When Stephen Rose moves to Felling, Catholic altar boys Davie and Geordie aren't quite sure what to make of him. He has no parents, no friends, and is living with an aunt who his commonly known as ‘Crazy Mary'.

Rumours abound as to why he left the school where he was training to be a priest - tales of black masses, blasphemy and other dark doings.

Davie finds himself strangely drawn to Stephen, who, in turn, seems to regard Davie as a kindred spirit. The local priest believes the newcomer will recover better from his disturbed past if he has ‘a good lad' as a friend and encourages Davie to spend time with him. He listens to Stephen's wild stories of his past, and tries to understand his strange ideas - ideas that challenge things that Davie has believed and trusted in all his life.

Stephen introduces Davie to sculpture, shaping clay from a local pond. He claims that can breathe life into their creations; that together he and Davie can play God in their own Garden of Eden. Disturbed by his intensity and almost mesmerised by his dark conviction, Davie realises he must make a choice between the simple, familiar village life and the strange world of Stephen Rose.

Almond is a very powerful writer whose skilful writing is often slightly surreal. Clay is one of his more disturbing novels, evocative and discomforting. The relationship between Davie and Stephen is very much an exploration of adolescent uncertainties and the consequences of personal choices. The novel examines two sensitive, talented boys, from similar socio-cultural backgrounds, who use the same information to arrive at starkly different conclusions as to their purpose in life. The use of written dialect is occasionally distracting from what is otherwise an interesting but rather nightmarish book with a fairly enigmatic conclusion.