Max Porter's novella Shy was published in 2023, and tells the story of a sixteen-year-old boy named Shy, who is sent to a boarding school for the most troubled boys. The novella is set in 1995, and follows the aforementioned Shy over the course of a couple of hours on one night, as he escapes the boarding school "in the middle of nowhere" and contends with his long and violent history and the path forward. Over the past several years, the book discusses Shy's past troubles -- including his thefts, stabbings, broken noses, and trashed homes. Shy is a novella about becoming a man, maturity, overcoming and reckoning with your past mistakes, and despair. And reviewers responded to those themes, with Anthony Cummins from The Guardian calling it "exhilarating portrait of a lost boy in 90s Britain."
Author Max Porter was tasked with writing the screenplay for a big-screen adaption of his novella. The resulting film, entitled Steve, was released in 2025 and stars Cillian Murphy as Steve, the head teacher of Shy's school. Like the novella that preceded it, Steve received positive reviews, reflecting the immense power and relatability of Shy's story.
