June 16th, 2005 Glowing Pains: Golda Fried takes a folksy peek at the virginal relationship Golda Fried's novel Nellcott Is My Darling has a certain simple charm. It's a familiar, folksy story about a young woman finding her way in the world. The novel centres on 19-year-old Alice Charles, a first-year student at McGill University. Alice is from Toronto. Her father went to McGill years before, but that's not what's on her mind. She's drawn to what differentiates Montreal from Toronto: the bagels, the architecture, the diners, but especially Nellcott, a hipster clerk at Basement Records, a musician and non-student. Alice is a good girl, Nellcott a bad boy-Alice a virgin, Nellcott a man of many sexual conquests. She's a member of the Film Society and by her own admission not very cool. Nellcott, at 23, is idealistic and arrogant. When asked why he's not in school, he spouts cliché, "Everything I need to know I can teach myself." They're a bit of an odd couple. But for a shy student trying to cut loose, the relationship is not out of the ordinary. Neither is its inevitable demise. Alice holds her virginity close her chest, like a stuffed animal from childhood. Nellcott puts up with it but eventually starts to bully Alice to do the deed. For her 20th birthday he buys her a crystal that is supposed to unfetter her sexual powers. Later, he marks on a calendar the day they will have sex. But when Alice finally decides to relent, Nellcott is asleep at the wheel and misses his chance. The novel gets a bit soapy at times and drags in the middle when the relationship is listing but not sinking. The reader never really knows what draws Alice and Nellcott together but that is, perhaps, part of the relationship's allure, part of the novel's charm. Fried does a strong job supporting the story with secondary characters: Alice's high school friend Bethany who drifts from her in Montreal; residence mates Allegra and Cricket who offer guidance; fellow Film Society geeks; and Oliver, a friend of Cricket's who plays a significant if predictable role in the novel. Fried's novel is remarkable for being unremarkable. The book doesn't aspire to be anything more than what it is: a glimpse at a young woman's growing pains. There's no strained resolution, no moral stuffed in the reader's gob. Nellcott Is My Darling is a dose of realism only semi-sweetened from time to time. by Matthew Firth Website © Golda Fried. / All rights reserved.