Stephen May's TAG

Stephen May. Remember the name. You will certainly hear it again.

There is quite a thrill in finding a new writer that you admire (tinged with just a hint of mild envy). TAG is May’s debut novel, and quite simply it is stunning.

I’ll freely admit, with a hint of shame, that I had some trepidation about reading a novel where the main protagonist was called Mistyann. Now I can happily sneer at my misguided prejudice. Mistyann is a wonderful piece of characterisation.

TAG [acronym for Talented and Gifted] tells the story of fifteen year old Mistyann Rutherford, a troubled, unpredictable, foul-mouthed yet gifted child who is selected to attend a residential course for teen prodigies in mid-Wales. She is accompanied for the week by her acerbic forty-something teacher Jon Diamond, a frustrated musician and dried-out alcoholic. In the confined setting of the residential course their lives both unravel through a series of unfortunate events which are in turn both comedic and emotionally-charged.

May eschews a linear narrative, and structures his book with deft precision through a series of careful time shifts. He alternates the first person narration between the two main characters, creating utterly believable voices for each of them. He also makes clever use of second person narration with JD effectively addressing Mistyann as if writing her a confessional letter. I’m certain that much of the author’s own voice is used for the character of JD, but his real skill is in creating such a rich and authentic voice for the moody and belligerent Mistyann. However May’s palette is wider still and even his minor characters crackle with life and realism. By getting under their skins he has an uncanny knack of making you care about his characters and their back stories. He creates a strong ensemble cast and uses them to good effect.

Mistyann’s dysfunctional extended family is a good case in point, where May sketches out a believable mother, with her various partners and children without resorting to particularly obvious stereotypes.

May’s experiences on Arvon courses have obviously underpinned many of his descriptions of the TAG Residential Course, although I suspect his teaching style may be slightly more orthodox than the American educational psychologist of his novel. I’m quite surprised that he managed to get the Cinnamon Press, (a Welsh independent publishing house) to publish a book which both mocks and ridicules the Welsh at times, so full marks to them for a self-referential sense of humour.

In TAG May bravely tackles a number of difficult subjects, confronting taboos and challenging prejudices. He leaves me convinced that he is a writer to watch out for, and I look forward to his second novel ("Life, Death, Prizes") with keen anticipation.