How to Make a Pot in 14 Easy Lessons.

by Nicola Pearson

Joe and Lucy are an unlikely couple. Joe is better at communicating with clay than people and is deeply rooted to his pottery studio in the North Cascade Mountains. Lucy, an actress, has worked hard to build a career on stage and perhaps harder to avoid getting entangled in love, driven by an old fear. And yet, like the undeniable call of making art for a living, something drives them to believe they can make their relationship work. Helped by the cast of quirky characters who come to buy Joe’s pottery, and the beauty of the natural world around them, Lucy starts to see a role for herself in the mountains. Joe’s wood-firing kiln may not always be dependable, but his love for her is. However the tight-knit community that surrounds him is an entirely different kind of audience than she’s used to, and when Joe asks for a commitment, something Lucy feels she can never promise, they both find their emotions spinning like a pot on a wheel.How to Make a Pot in 14 Easy Lessons is about clay and love and the surprising unpredictability of both.

316 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2013

About the author

Nicola Pearson is an award-winning playwright, author of three novels, three short mysteries and the children’s picture book, The Lost Hour. She lives in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State with her potter husband, their dogs, cat and chickens.

Reviews

[Jesse Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Excellent journey into the Saulk Mountains. I got to learn a great deal about pottery and life in the Northwest. Made me want to move there.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very sweet story. The book does a wonderful job describing the beauty of the Cascade Mountains. I really enjoyed learning a bit about the making of pottery too, especially how each chapter begins with a lesson about making pottery that can also be applied to life and love. The best thing about this novel, though, is how well it speaks to the building of a relationship between two people with very different life paths. It makes me believe that good relationships can exist.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this particularly as I could picture the pottery shop in my mind. Character driven, struggles of small town life, Pacific Northwest themes.