“Clay” by David Almond

David Almond is one of those British writers whose work can be intriguing. To this day, “Skellig” is one of my favorite books. But Mr. Almond is also *very* British and sometimes his flights of fancy can be so fanciful that they leave me somewhat lost. This was the case with “Kit’s Wilderness”. “Clay” falls somewhere between those two books. This is the story of Davie, a rough and tumble Catholic boy in northwest England. The tale takes place in the small town of Felling and is somewhat lost in time. It could be the 1950s or today. Like many of Almond’s books, the details seem to fall away, giving weight to the “feel” of things rather than specifics. Davie and his friend Geordie fight with the “proddy boys” (Protestants) and have simple lives that encompass church, school, and mucking about in the outdoors. Things get moving when the mysterious Stephen Rose is sent to live with his addled aunt Mary. There are rumors about Stephen Rose, with threads of death and madness in his family. Stephen quickly centers in on Davie, choosing him as the conduit for his visions and his magic. Stephen fashions creatures from clay and uses Davie to bring them to life. Is it real? Again, hard to say. David Almond has a way of making many of his books feel like dreams. The supernatural happens in such a subtle manner that neither the characters nor the readers can be sure of their experiences. On one hand, I liked the book. It is rich with religious symbolism and layered with meaning, on the other hand, it simply wasn’t a page turner (for me … male readers might feel differently). The local speech is written phonetically, making it extremely hard to understand at times. That “ether-like” quality so prevalent in Almond’s books is overwhelming here. I kept feeling like the plot was something I was chasing through mists. At one point, I realized I had somehow missed a major plotline … and I truly didn’t know where in the book that it had happened. Like many of David Almond’s books, I don’t know that this one will garner a large audience, but it is a book with “atmosphere”. Those familiar with the dialect and/or the Catholic imagery may find the book intriguing. For me, as much as I appreciated the aura, I eventually found it a bit of a chore to finish.