After Goodlake's

by Terence Young

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551926830
• ISBN13: 9781551926834
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Raincoast Books
• Length: 354 Pages

Customer Reviews

We are where we live

After Goodlake's does for Victoria what Timothy Taylor's Stanley Park did for Vancouver, and with similar ingredients -- food, family, and a sharp eye for what makes a city the city it is. Terence Young knows his city and presents it in a grand, laconic style. The setting is unmistakable in its physical and historical detail, and also in the perception of characters like Helios, who feels living in Victoria "must be a lot like living in Disneyland after closing." Young also knows the secret yearnings and boredom couples face in middle years, and the surprising resilience of their children. Like Jonathon Franzen, he puts the "fun" in dysfunctional families - as well as the funk. Fergus's long-haired son, Helios, has a girlfriend who is bedecked with multiple earrings and a baseball cap. Doris, Goodlake's Girl Friday, wears a cross between "punk, gothic and grunge." Annie, Fergus's wife, is crisp and lovely in her Balinese dresses, "her neck and wrists overflowing with Mexican jewelry." These are smart, witty characters facing modern challenges. Annie suggests that Fergus should have an affair. Fergus is truthful enough to acknowledge that he wouldn't tell Annie if he had an affair, but not truthful enough to admit he's already doing so. Annie, accidentally introduced to marijuana by eating one of Helios's cookies, tokes up a little more than she should, although she's bothered by the smoke. Fergus worries about the state of his prostrate, his marriage, and his mistress, and broods about "the life of a thing, its arc." Everybody would like to return to an earlier, less complicated period. Goodlake's, the delicatessen which has been in Fergus's family for three generations, appears to be a permanent presence, but like everything else in this novel, it undergoes transformation and decline. Since the deli first opened its doors, the air has changed, "the whiff of pulp, the scent of seaweed and woodsmoke had given way to the aroma of downtowns everywhere: a mixture of traffic, urine and cigarettes." There's plenty of traffic, urine and cigarettes in this novel, but the downtown isn't one you'd find anywhere. Like Goodlake's it's a living space whose past and present command recognition and respect. Great novels are often inspired by great cities, and Terence Young's first novel will give you second thoughts about who we are and where we live. And it will make you consider giving Victoria a second visit.