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Vendor
Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik
Original language
English

THE CLAY GIRL

Heather Tucker

In the tradition of Emma Donoghue's Room, The Clay Girl takes us to some dark places. But the mesmerizing storytelling of the author makes Ari a memorable, inspiring hero, and this debut novel unforgettable.
Vincent Appleton smiles at his daughters, raises a gun, and takes his life. For the Appleton sisters, life had unravelled many times before. This time it explodes.
Eight-year-old Hariet, known to all as Ari, is dispatched to Cape Breton, along with her steadfast companion Jasper, an imaginary seahorse, to find refuge with her Aunt Mary, a potter. There she finds belonging and tranquility, but as the tumultuous 60s ramp up in Toronto, Ari is forced back to her twisted mother and fractured sisters, and a new stepfather, Len. Ari grows to adore Len and the severing is violent when her mother abandons him for a brutal man.
Through the sexual revolution and drug culture of the 1960s, Ari struggles with her father's legacy and her mother's addictions, testing limits with substances that numb and men who show her kindness. She spins through a chaotic decade of loss and love with wit, tenacity, and the astonishing balance unique to seahorses.
The Clay Girl is a beautiful tour de force that traces the story of a child sculpted by kindness, cruelty and the extraordinary power of imagination, and her families – the one she's born into and the one she creates.

HEATHER TUCKER has won many prose and short-story writing competitions, and her stories have appeared in anthologies and literary journals. The Clay Girl is her first novel.
Available products
Book

Published by ECW

Comments

Algoritam

"Tucker's triumphant debut novel is the story of a childhood lost, a family found, and a coming-of-age, recounted in precise and poetic language. ... the broken homes that Ari moves between, while devastating to consider, contribute to the intricate beauty of the tale. It is at times difficult to read, but this novel is worth every moment of pain and every tear." (PW starred review) Read more...

Sis Yayincilik

Rao

“You've never met anyone like Ari Appleton. Feisty, bright young heroines forced to deal with devastating family circumstances have long made for memorable characters in Canadian fiction, from Anne Shirley of Green Gables fame to Yolanda in Miriam Toews' All My Puny Sorrows. But Ari Appleton will take your breath away.” Read more...