Customer Reviews

Nellcott Is My Darling

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Who knew that such dreamy decsriptions of love, longing, and life could be so achingly accurate. Golda Fried writes from the corners of her heart.

I love reading books like this because they make me think I'm part of some cool, hip crowd that "gets" these books. Fried writes in minimalist terms, yet that doesn't keep both the story and characters from having a whallop of an impact. I found myself thinking about Alice for weeks after I'd finished the book--replaying some of the scenes and dialogue in my mind. "Nellcott is My Darling" is up for a major book award in Canada and after reading it, it's easy to see why. This is a gifted author and I look forward to reading her next novel.

Golda is so funny and deep at the same time. Her metaphors are wonderful...."'Stay away from boys, her dad said. They will only rape you and leave you with nothing.' Her parents looked back and forth at each other and then at Alice. Alice felt like running, like calling Nellcot, but he would somehow find out where they were and show up at their table like a spilt drink."

As I read the book, I felt each scene as if I were in it myself...."Allegra yanked Alice to the women's bathroom. Their trips to the bathroom were becoming familiar. Allegra spent ten minutes putting on her deep raspberry-bruise lipstick and then kissed Alice on the cheek, making Alice feel like a substitute tissue."

The truth about how confusing relationships can be is easily understood in this charming story....
"'Why don't you ever call me?' he asked her.
'You usually call me. You don't even have an answering machine if I did call you.'
'You could call me at work.'
'But you're working.'
'French girls are much more aggressive.'
'What does that mean?'
'It means, I guess we're going to have to practice this. I'm going to go home now and you're going back to your dorm and you are going to call me.'
'Will you answer?'
"We'll have to see.' He went home.

And I have felt just like this many times...but Golda Fried put it in such original terms......
"'I don't need another guy or anyone else telling me what to do. What do you tell people about me? Does he know I'm a virgin too?'
'Um'.
'God, Nellcot, Lovers should not bring their love to the light.'
'We aren't lovers.'
Ouch. A pigeon flew into a sordid cloud and her hair was violent on her face and if she had been chewing gum, it would have gotten caught in her hair."

The fact that I just want to quote the book in this review makes me realize it's like me saying...." Listen to this!....Isn't this great?" I read the book right through to find out how it ended. I was surprised in the end though and want to read the book again, this time savoring the very unique creative writing style of Golda Fried, my new favorite author. I hope she is working on her next book. I hope you who are reading this will have the rare pleasure of reading this book too.

Golda Fried takes us deep inside of Alice Charles, her incredibly fresh and naïve character who takes our heart and makes us remember every awkward moment of the path toward womanhood. Alice, our hero, is unsure of herself and awkwardly waiting to have her first real love. When she finally finds him, she has just one problem: her virginity. Nellcott, Alice's first love, is really no darling at all. The sweet Alice is instantly drawn to his "bad-boy" appeal; he is drawn to her naiveté and sweetness, like dark to light. To his credit, though, the eyeliner- wearing aspiring rocker does not take Alice's virginity lightly. He is surprisingly patient, despite his shock at her virginity.
" What were you doing all of high school?" he asks upon her confession, which occurs just moments before he is poised to make love with his boots still on.

Despite her attempts to be a bohemian Montreal girl, Alice is still very much her parent's daughter, the same loving parents, who, after replacing Alice with a dog, lovingly attempt to find out if their daughter is still a virgin during their Thanksgiving meal by asking outright: " Everyone at this table who's had sex before, raise your hand." A mortified Alice freezes as their hands shoot straight up in the air.

In an era where children grow up entirely too fast, and middle-schoolers "do it" routinely and without pause, it is nice to know Alices do exist, as rare as they may be. Like Alice, they too struggle their sexuality and their need to define themselves as women, and not just as daughters.

Thank you, Golda Fried, for giving us a wonderland in Alice, who is both our darling and our hero.

Golda Fried's Nellcott Is My Darling novel is an amazingly crafted story that takes a reader through a journey of a young adult's milestone of life, with the main character Alice Charles, who is off to McGill College in Montreal from the one she is acculturated to in Toronto. This shows Alice's true ingenuous beauty and the feeling of being set free for the first time. Alice meets new people like Allegra an arty young lady that seems to have an appeal for hip fresh Montreal guys, engrosses herself in her art projects, and is addicted to coffee. After Alice gets involved with The Film Society she seems more comfortable with her new surroundings. Followed by meeting the mysterious Nellcott Ragland, who seems to have a little bit of a dangerous edgy side to him is when Alice's world seems to be swept away and she learns the true reality of the "real world," from the sheltered world she knew and understood before going to school in Montreal. This novel is a very good representation of what a young person, who is leaving home for the first time, and going away to college has to face, with all the life experiences that they learn from. I highly recommend that people pick up this novel and read it. I'm also intrigued about Nellcott Is My Darling that at this time is in the beginning stages of becoming a movie.

I am no expert in girls coming of age. If you doubt me, ask my daughter. Still we could all be better for knowing Fried's Alice. Alice is more amenable than Jane Eyre and more secure than Franny Glass. She is the emergent heroine for our era.

Golda Fried's language is economical and sincere. Her episodes ring true. Her analogies are sound. You'll laugh out loud at her metamorphisis. It is our own.

Read it.

Don