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    Clay
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    Clay
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    Clay
    Audiobook6 hours

    Clay

    Written by Melissa Harrison

    Narrated by Clare Corbett

    4/5

    ()

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    About this audiobook

    Eight-year-old TC skips school to explore the city’s overgrown, forgotten corners. Sophia, seventy-eight, watches with concern as he slips past her window, through the park. Jozef can’t forget the farm he left behind in Poland, its woods and fields still a part of him, although he is a thousand miles away. When he meets TC he finds a kindred spirit: both lonely, both looking for something, both lost.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Audio
    Release dateFeb 5, 2015
    ISBN9781471283598
    Author

    Melissa Harrison

    Melissa Harrison is the author of the novels Clay and At Hawthorn Time, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize, and one work of non-fiction, Rain, which was longlisted forthe Wainwright Prize. She is a nature writer, critic and columnist for TheTimes, the Financial Times and the Guardian, among others. Her new novel All Among the Barley is due for publication in August this year. @M_Z_Harrison

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    Reviews for Clay

    4/5

    37 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Harrison writes the natural world and how some city dwellers interact with it. Beyond that, her plot involves the strained relationships in the separate lives of those people. In summary, I'd have to say that the book certainly gave me material for pondering, despite my dissatisfaction with its quality. The message I most appreciated can be found in 2 quotes "...a life without land was not enough." (p.162) "We are made of the same stuff as the earth...It's in our blood and our bones" (185-6). The relationship between Linda & her mother Sophia as shown late in the book, made me think of the struggles my daughter has with being a different parent from her mother. This review based on an Early Reviewer copy. Hopefully more editing will eliminate some of the rough edges.SPOILER ALERT: It's hard to give a full review without some mention of outcomes. Harrison's prose at times nicely describes the burgeoning life in city parks and byways "To walk Znajda in the warm, golden light was to pass from one blackbird's demesne to another's, their songs a carillon calling him" (p.158), but at times seems a bit strained, as when the road Linda travels is given an historical geography (p.47-8) or when the view from a plane is described even tho no characters are in it (p.211). These are not Linda's thoughts, & are awkward here. As much as she would like us to relate to the world, it is a British world, not my Midwestern one, & I was constantly trying to translate the lime trees, great tits, and willowherb into plants I am familiar with (isn't that Linden trees, Ovenbirds, and Spiraea?)Everyone is sad, and in this tragedy there is an unhappy ending. Reaching out to the natural world is not enoough to save the city dwellers. The young mothers in this story were not likeable, both seeming very self-centered. TC's mother is particularly inarticulate, using "F---" as her generic explanation for why she doesn't do better. At the end, I could see that we are to understand that one of the problems with the world today is the lack of loving attention children receive from their moms, but we aren't given enough to sympathize with them. It also begs the question of why the fathers aren't involved. Daisy's father is just a cardboard stand-in, as is Jamal.I really liked Jozef, his woodcarvings, his concern about TC, his missing belonging to the land where his family had farmed for generations.One sentence sticks out, when Harrison gives a "Little did he know..." warning (p.148) which is completely unnecessary & spoils the picture of Eden TC imagines. There is plenty of foreshadowing in Jozef's uncertainties that we don't need this awkward sentence.
    • 4/5
      Melissa Harrison's novel Clay is about a few lonely people who interact with and befriend one another in a small, litter-strewn park. Nature is infused in every part of the book and the park itself is like one more character, playing an integral role in the story. "TC began to see that there were things hidden in the ivy: roof slates, a coil of rusted wire...he could tell it had been here for ages, and was part of the place, somehow. It made him have a quiet feeling that he didn't completely understand. In fact, although he could not have known it, as he explored the uneven ground he was moving through the ghostly rooms of the long-gone house...How strange the house's last inhabitants would have found the little boy; or, perhaps, not so very strange at all."The characters include Jozef, a middle-aged Polish immigrant forced to leave his homeland behind, TC, a neglected young boy from a broken home, Sophia, an old widow with an uneasy relationship with her daughter, and Daisy, Sophia's spunky granddaughter. We know from the beginning that things do not bode happily for all the characters because the book opens with TC being interviewed by police and social workers about his relationship with Jozef. Throughout the book, however, the reader can't help but hope for the best for the gentle, innocent people who inhabit the book. I look forward to reading more by Melissa Clay.
    • 4/5
      Clay is a captivating novel. It centres around three finely developed characters: TC, a 9-year-old boy whose parents have just divorced; Jozef, a Polish immigrant who has lost his family farm; and Sophia, an elderly widow trying to connect with her daughter and granddaughter. Each of these characters has a strong connection to nature, and this connection draws them together.In addition to the well drawn characters, the setting in a small urban park as we move from autumn to the following summer allows nature to act as a character; the changing seasons reflect the subtle shiftings in the lives of TC, Sophia and Jozef.Clay tells a good story about trying to belong; to matter to someone. It is a story of friendship, and how our intentions can be so easily misunderstood.
    • 4/5
      This is a little gem of a book. The characters tug at your heartstrings as you get to know them through their thoughts and their relationship to the little park and bit of wild area near where they live. Sophia is an elderly widow whose life is winding down, but who takes pleasure in closing observing the park near her home in all seasons, and in little acts of subversion. For example, she watches park employees plant daffodils in regimented rows, and when they leave at the end of their shift, she comes back in the dark to rearrange the bulbs in a random and joyous fashion. TC is a 10-year-old boy whose father has just left, and whose mother pays him little attention. He claims the park as his own personal territory, reveling in its small creatures and hidden life. Jozef is a polish immigrant who lost his farm in Poland to "progress" and now does low-paying jobs he hates. He too feels a connection to the land and observes the small boy alone in the park and becomes a much-needed friend to TC. In Clay, we come to care very deeply for these three characters, and wish them happiness. It's disturbing and sad when everything changes, although we can see how and why it happens.I share the author's love of the land and I too observe a wild area in the middle of a city, its flowers, trees, plants, birds, animals and insects, in all kinds of weather and as it changes through the seasons, feeling lucky to have such a place for my daily walk. Since I live in Canada, not England, I was unfamiliar with many of the terms the author uses, but have enjoyed looking them up and making new discoveries. I do enjoy books where you can learn something new. Also the author has a nature blog called Tales of the City, with gorgeous photographs, that I am enjoying.The story is one that stays with you when you turn the last page, and hopefully makes you notice more of the small, insignificant things in the natural world that surrounds us. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This was a rather enjoyable read. The writing style was wonderful and the characters were detailed and well thought-out. It is a novel about unlikely friendships and how things aren't always what they seem. I do agree with others that the prologue gave a little too much away. I think it was important to set up the plot but a little less detail would have been better.
    • 3/5
      Clay is centered around the lives of four different people only the story starts out like a lukewarm party with lots of dull people. The characters were listless and unmemorable. I felt like a party goer who was more interested in the decor of the party than the people attending it.By page 100 I still hadn't connected with anyone nor could I tell anyone what it was really about. At the center of the story is TC, a nine-turning-ten year old lonely boy. On the surface he is looking for a companion, someone to share his "me against the world" attitude. Deep down he is searching for his father, always fantasizing about ways to get him to come home after divorcing his mom. Other characters include Jamal, TC's mother's boyfriend; Jozef, the Polish immigrant working two jobs; Denny, Jozef's boss at the furniture shop and Musa, Jozef's boss at the takeaway; Sophia, the elderly widow across the park; her daughter Linda; granddaughter Daisy, son Michael, and son-in-law Steven. All these characters circle around each other without real rhyme or reason other than proximity. For example, TC and Jozef forge a misfit friendship and Daisy and grandmother Sophie write misunderstood letters to one another.The best part of Harrison's writing is her descriptive passages about nature. She captures birds, trees, flowers beautifully. Wildlife comes alive and breathes life into the rest of the story.
    • 4/5
      Although for many years I’d enjoyed Melissa Harrison’s nature writing, the first novel of hers which I read was “All Among the Barley” and, having enjoyed her quite brilliant story-telling in that one, I was motivated to read her debut novel … as well as any others she has already written… or will write in the future! I love her eloquent, lyrical and unhurried prose, which she uses very effectively to encapsulate something essential about the changing seasons of the natural world, demonstrating how, even in the most urban of environments, it’s possible to observe these changes if you’re prepared to take the time to stop, look, listen and smell. I enjoyed the myriad ways in which she used the interest each of her main characters showed in the flora and fauna which surrounded them to create the links which brought them together, creating the inter-relatedness which shaped the story’s development. Whilst I felt that I got to know the three main characters well, there were moments when I felt there was an imbalance in the overall story-telling, that nature and the urban landscape were rather more evocatively-drawn “characters” than some of the more peripheral, but key to the story, human ones, rendering them rather one-dimensional. As an example, I’d like to have understood much more about why Kelly, TC’s mother, was so neglectful of her young son. I’m not a reader who needs to have everything spelled out to me but, although there were some implicit clues, a little more background information would have added an important extra dimension to understanding the driving-force behind her behaviour. However, in spite of this slight criticism, I did find myself drawn into the worlds of each of the characters and found myself caring deeply about what was happening to them, feeling increasingly fearful about their individual fates as the story unfolded and reached its sad, if predictable, conclusion. I found it fascinating (as well as impressive) to discover that all the “seeds” for Melissa Harrison’s “trademark” reflections on the inter-connectedness of nature and her human characters were apparent in this story. However, I think that in her later writing she has refined this skill, achieving a better balance and making the inter-relatedness even more powerfully significant. A sad and haunting story.
    • 4/5
      The tiny city park is a hub and a focus for many of the local residents. Sophia sees its beauty even through the litter as it is blown around in the wind. A nine year old boy, TC, is discovering the joy that nature can bring as he plays truant from school to explore and discover. Sophia’s granddaughter Daisy who lives round the corner just sees it as a place to play. And there is Jozef, a farmer from Poland, he is now clearing homes and serving at a takeaway, but still has that yearning for the forests and fields of his homeland.

      These four people are brought together like those small whirlwinds that lift the leaves up in the air. TC and Jozef hit it off together immediately with their common love of the natural world, and Jozef takes an interest in his life and the pain TC has from his father leaving. Sophia is trying to spark an interest in nature and the wider world with her granddaughter, but her daughter has other ideas as to what her Daisy should and should not be doing. TC and Daisy occasionally climb trees and play together, but their worlds are so different. Events drift slowly on until someone watching draws the wrong conclusion about an event.

      Harrison writes lyrically in this book on the urban space, but all the way through it is infused with melancholy. There is not just the sadness of the four characters as they go about their daily lives and deal with their own trials and tribulations, but she has picked up on the ambiance of class and consumerism that permeates modern London these days. Her keen eyes write about the smallest details; the unfurling of leaves, the glisten of a stag beetle shell, the tiny channels left by voles, and these all bring alive the natural world of the park. It is a hauntingly beautiful book; not happy by any means, but effortless to read.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed [Clay: a novel] by [Melissa Harrison], an ER book. This story covers a calendar year in the lives of several people and one dog in urban London. What they all have in common is use of and a relationship to a small natural area. (As far as I can figure out, some of it is formally what we in Atlanta refer to as a park, and some is just area that hasn’t been formally developed or claimed by human beings). The three main human characters are lonely – their relationships to other people aren’t enough – and they have a conscious need for action in /preservation of / relationship with the natural world. It’s not clear to me if this relationship to the natural world is in addition to their human relationships or simply meets needs those human relationships don’t fill. The reader is allowed inside each person’s head for parts of the story; the dog’s actions are described from the perspective of two of the people. I liked all of the characters in the story: Znajda the dog, Jozef, the immigrant from a farm lost to the changes of CE Poland, TC, the adolescent boy with an absent father and mother, Sophia, missing her dead husband, torn between her relationship with her nine-year-old granddaughter Daisy and the possibility of a closer relationship with her daughter Linda, and the relationships that develop among these individuals and others. It’s a comment, in part, I think, on the loneliness of the human condition and how we seek to ameliorate that loneliness.Intriguingly, each chapter was titled with a different holiday or holy day, many of which I had a passing familiarity with (Michelmas, Candlemas, May Day, etc.), and many of which I had to look up (Plough Monday, Hock Tide, Oak Day). The story started and ended with chapters set on St. Bartholomew’s day (Aug. 23rd, the eve of the feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, commemorates the assassination of a number of prominent Protestants in Paris in 1572 and the ensuing Huguenot massacres), so it was clear from the beginning that this story would not have a happy ending. And yet I hoped for one! Though perhaps the point wasn’t a happy ending, but the ongoing web of relationships we weave as we try to take care of ourselves and sometimes others.I’m also intrigued by the author’s blog and photos at Tales of the City.
    • 4/5
      This story takes place over a 12 month period with each chapter titled for an event on the Christian calendar, which also tend to mark the passing of the seasons. The setting for the book is an area of open land in inner city London: a run down park established in the Victorian era, a commons area bounded by road and railway, and an old oak woods that run along the embankment of the commons. Bordering this open land is Plestor Estate, a housing development which has seen better days. It is the home of Sophia, a grandmother who raised her family on the estate and is mourning the loss of her husband who died shortly after his retirement. Her granddaughter, Daisy lives with her parents in a more gentrified area of the neighborhood. Plestor is also the home of TC, a nine-going-on-ten year old boy who has recently witnessed the breakup of his family and his father's departure which feels more like a disappearance. Completing the quartet of main characters is Jozef, a polish immigrant whose farm, handed down through generations, was lost due to EU development .TC, Sophia, and Jozef share the experiences of recent loss, a sense of dislocation, and an innate love of the natural world. Through each chapter the author describes the happenings in the natural world, while the characters struggle with modern city life and find solace in the flora and fauna of the park and commons area. They form a loosely linked kinship, especially between TC and Jozef and his dog, Znadja (Polish for foundling). Sophia introduces Daisy into this world, through gardening and observation of nature, as well encouraging her to play with TC. Alas, Daisy is not of their world (spoiler alert) and it is her grounding in the life of the modern world that brings the idyll down.I use the term idyll deliberately because the author's writing has a sense of pastoral poetry buried within. During descriptions of events in the park and the woods, I kept thinking of T.S. Eliot's 'The Wasteland'. Then the phrase from which the novel derives its name appeared on p. 185 (advance reader's copy) "We are the clay that grew tall.." This phrase is paraphrased from Wifred Owen's WWI poem 'Futility': "Was it for this the clay grew tall?" If you look up the poem, you'll find that many of the other phrases of the poem feel familiar after reading this novel. This is a small but ambitious first novel which I feel privileged to have read in advance of it's release.
    • 4/5
      Harrison's debut novel is a beautiful story of innocence and an awakening awareness of the natural world around us. TC is a young boy from a broken home who lives with his mom in a housing scheme in an unidentified UK town near a city park and commons. The green spaces are a refuge for TC, away from home and school. Others also take comfort in the green space: 78 year old Sophia Adams continues to live in a ground floor flat of Plestor Estates near the park, where her daughter Linda and son Michael were raised and where she is trying to develop an interest in nature in her granddaughter Daisy; and Josef, is a recent Polish immigrant in his 40's from a small farming community. Told over the course of 12 months, the story follows nature's path through the seasons and slowly unfolds the stories of the various characters - TC's troubles at home and school; Josef's struggles to understand the concrete city he now lives in and its inhabitants, at times so alien from the life he knew in his native Poland; and Sophia's observations from her kitchen window of the park and the interactions she has with her daughter and granddaughter. he main focal point of the story is the park, and it is the park that draws the characters together. As beautiful as Harrison's prose is, and as well drawn as the characters are, I found the overall story of our characters and the plot overshadowed by her lyrical descriptions of the natural world. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but may prove to be a bit of a slog for a reader more interested in the characters than the scenery. Overall, an insight-fully written story of the challenges of our modern lives and the resilience of nature to continue its own life-cycle rhythm around us. This book was courtesy of Librarything's Early Review Program.