It Cracks Like Breaking Skin (Hardcover)

The first story, "Big Wheel", introduces us to a young boy (presumably Hewitt) skulking around a fairground trying to avoid bullies, only to be rescued by a generous older girl. Next meet him in the title story, as a teenager working at a butcher's stall, trying to make it through the day, with a glimpse of the pretty candy-seller his only consolation. "Fall" is a fairly conventional schoolboy vignette. The very sweet and dead-on "The Empty Sidewalks on My Block Are Not the Same" takes us on Hewitt's first date and a hook-up later in life. "Bubble Gum" locates Hewitt in perhaps his early twenties, working as an underling at a restaurant, and follows as he tags along to a gay club out of curiosity. "Stepping Stones" is the longest story, and cuts between Hewitt out for a day tip on bikes with some friends, and his mother's dalliance with a insulation salesman. The part revolving around Hewitt focuses on the cruelties of adolescent boys, while his mother's portion is written in screenplay format for some incomprehensible reason.

"Yeah" is a throwaway undeveloped bit about the birth of Hewitt's child. "Off the Plot" finds Hewitt as an adult who has quit his software job and drives a minicab. Intriguingly, he is married to "Mandy" and drives a Merc (on his first date in an earlier story he tells his date Amanda that they will get married and he'll buy a Mercedes). It's an excellent take on the overdone topic of a man abruptly leaving the proscribed "track" and rediscovering himself. In "Swimming", adult Hewitt returns to his childhood swimming facility to take photos and recall the past. The final story is "Some Beach," where we find a man (presumably Hewitt) and his son wandering alone, their wife/mother having left. It's an enigmatic ending to Hewitt's tale.

The non-Hewitt stories are a mixed bag. "Life on Earth" is a quick anonymous story of a trip to a football game--it's so rapid it feels more like a writing exercise than anything else. It could possibly be narrated by Hewitt, but it seems unlikely given his mild manner throughout most of the stories. "A Ripple In the Static" is another disconnected vignette, showing a mother and two daughters (one of whom was Hewitt's first date) at tea-time. "Sweet" is a slightly longer piece, illuminating a boy's relationship with his younger brother. This one could be Hewitt, but this seems unlikely as a brother is never mentioned in any other story. "Hello Sunshine" is a two-page list of twelve items relating to "Grandad Bill" (possibly Hewitt's) that doesn't add much to the proceedings. "Stiches" is a kind of maudlin piece about a schoolmate of Hewitt's. "Ice Cubes" glimpses in on a young couple with a troublesome 6-month-old baby, and the effects the baby has on the father. The father is "Jim", which could conceivably be Hewitt's first name, but it's left unclear.

In the end, the collection can be considered fairly strong for a first book, although there are certainly some throwaway pieces. I definitely would have preferred to have the Hewitt stories all grouped and clearly labeled as such, as Foster appears to be making the reader work to figure it out for no good reason. His subsequent novel, Strides, isn't bad, but isn't notable either

Take what you like from the publisher's description of the tone as "Bruised male melancholy", simply speaking - and reminiscent of Raymond Carver, Alan Sillitoe or Donald Barthelme - It Cracks... is elegaic, frequently homourous, often moving and an exercise in beautifully crafted prose.

The publishers appear careful to downplay the fact that It Cracks is a collection of short stories but, well. . . it is. There are fourteen in all although they aren't a random bundle of works, more a book which bridges the gap between a story collection and a novel. Progressing from the uncertainties of boyhood to those of adulthood, from what it is to be a son to a father, they spiral around a character called Hewitt, playing out the dramas of first dates, troubled relationships, boyhood escapades and much much more - all in and around the city of Stoke-on-Trent.

If I had to pick a fault, It Cracks is a slim volume for a book of this price. That said, amongst these pieces are some real gems of the genre. It is, undoubtedly, a stunning and inspiring debut from a writer who delivers an awful lot and promises more for the future.

On to 'Strides'.