Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503110027
SECTION: BOOK PAGE: F-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: REVIEWED BY KATHLEEN RATLIFF
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Evocatively written and gently paced, ``Candyman'' is like a chance encounter with an old friend; warm, welcome and nostalgic. The novel is set in 1950s Nova Scotia and deals with the LeBlancs, an Acadian family living with the problems of that era.
Pretty, diligent Claire is the 24-year-old mother of four active children. Her husband, Charles, 59, struggles with poor health and the difficulties of raising a family on a small income. They have a close relationship, and we learn much of the family's trials through the observing eyes of precocious Nicole who misses little.
Nicole adores her father. She loves to be gathered up in his big arms as they make fudge together with sister Annette, while tolerating the two younger brothers. She relishes the love of her family and believes that life in their small pre-fab home is wonderful - and it is, until her father loses his job.
Charles has many talents for a good career but this is, after all, the 50s, and his choices are few. After much deliberation, he decides to open a small wholesale penny-candy business.
Problems beset the new enterprise, beginning with a major heart attack. He recovers slowly through more health problems, declining income and the gradual erosion of the family. Claire pinches pennies and returns to teaching to avoid losing the house.
As the children enter adulthood and parenthood, we watch the tenderness and maturity developing in Nicole as she discovers more of the qualities of her father and realizes the depth of his love when she has her own child.
Simone Poirier-Bures, who teaches at Virginia Tech, is a sensitive and thoughtful writer. She captures the essence of childhood innocence, the pain of teen-age years and finally adulthood. She stirs deep memories for those who grew up in the 1950s, whether as adult or child. Many readers will be startled by the recollections this novel awakens.
Kathleen Ratliff is a former English teacher.
by CNB