Cracked Pots: A Novel

Written by Heather Tucker

Narrated by Laura Kyswaty

“It is the voice of the characters, the kindness of strangers, and the ingenuity and determination of our protagonist against terrible forces that make this story sing.” — San Francisco Chronicle on Tucker’s debut, The Clay Girl

From the author of the Indie Next List pick The Clay Girl comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of a remarkable young woman unraveling the mystery of a missing friend while struggling to grow past the trauma of her calamitous upbringing.

From the waning flower-power ’60s in Toronto through her East Coast university years, Ari fights to discover who she is and what it means to be the child of an addicted mother and depraved father. When her friend Natasha, the perfect girl from the nicest family, suddenly vanishes, Ari sets out to find out what has happened to her — are her troubled parents to blame?

With wit, tenacity, and the incessant meddling of Jasper — the seahorse in her head — Ari rides turbulent waves of devilry and discovery, calamity and creation, abandonment and atonement on a journey to find her true self, and to find Natasha.

Cracked Pots is a story about a girl broken by both cruelty and truth. It is a revelation that destiny is shaped in clay, not stone. It is also a celebration of rising after the blows, gathering the fragments, and piecing together a remarkable life through creativity, kindness, and belonging.

• Language: English
• Publisher: ECW Press
• Release date: Dec 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781773058870

Reviews for Cracked Pots

[Leah Barton Tew · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The author has a way with words, but this book was exhausting and ridiculous. It just went on and on and on and on, and the more it went on, the more I found myself rolling my eyes at the ridiculous dialogue, especially statements coming from the main character. She sounded like a spoof of a new age, hippy guru in a comedy film or sketch, spewing forth lines that were supposed to make her appear wise and insightful but just made her come across as condescending and ridiculous. It was just too heavy handed and unbelievable.

I tried to hang in there until the end, but by the time she said “I didn’t let him go. I let him grow”, I couldn’t take it any more and gave up.

The plot also tries to justify some actions and behaviors that are at the very least inappropriate and at worst could be considered disturbing or downright predatory. Resourceful and right behavior is incredibly fluid in this book and basically depends on whether or not the author wants you to like the person.

If you have even a smidgen of critical thinking skills you will not like this book. If you like to be spoon fed drivel then this might be a great read for you.