After Goodlake's

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Terence Young, a Victoria-based English professor, succeeds in different
genres. His poetry book, The Island in Winter, was nominated for the
1999 Governor General’s Literary Award. Rhymes with Useless, a
short-story collection published the following year, was short-listed
for the Danuta Gleed Award. After Goodlake’s is his first novel.

Young demonstrates his willingness to assume challenges with this tale
of Fergus Goodlake, a Victoria deli owner who has an affair with
Caroline, a young carpenter. The author does not take the easy way out.
The protagonist’s wife, Annie, is neither ugly nor bitchy. Fergus is
yet another male in a mid-life crisis; he does not really care for the
business that he has inherited from his father. The spouse is a given,
not a problem for a husband: “His intention had never been to rid
himself of her.” He simply prefers to “have his cake and eat it
too.”

It would be absurd to brand this novelist a Gentile Mordecai. After
Goodlake’s was not written to interpret Christian society for Jewish
readers. That said, Young uses the same duality that Richler used in
Joshua Then and Now. The contemporary anti-hero is haunted by 1964
boyhood memories, including the earthquake that devastated Alaska and
spawned a tsunami that threatened the Pacific Coast. This perspective
might appeal to middle-aged men and alienate others.

Young can display a subtle humour. When Fergus takes over Goodlake’s,
a customer chides, “‘You should be ashamed, Bill ... Dyeing your
hair like that.’” Readers may know that the speaker is either
jocular or oblivious, but they may subconsciously wonder whether the new
proprietor is becoming his own father.

After Goodlake’s is recommended for those who enjoy the misfortunes
of self-indulgent fools.