A Certain Mr. Takahashi

Donalee Moulton-Barrett was a writer and editor in Halifax.

Like one of the central characters in her novel, A Certain Mr. Takahashi, Ann Ireland has achieved prominence for her work, the winner of the 1985 Seal First Novel Award. That prominence, as Yoshi Takahashi well knows, places a heavy burden on the creative artist. Expectations run high.

Ms. Ireland has met them. A Certain Mr Takahashi unfolds like crisp new linen. There is a sense of discovery as more information on the characters is revealed — but not too much at any one time — through the use of flashbacks to childhood days in Toronto, to a rite of passage in Montreal, and most recently, to the Bowery in New York.

Yoshi Takahashi, a Toronto neighbour of sisters Jean and Colette Hopper, fascinates the youngsters. They begin to learn bits of the Japanese language, they redecorate their rooms in sparse Oriental fashion, and Jean even goes so far as to create a Japanese rock garden in her parents’ backyard.

But this fascination with the famous concert pianist, unlike most youthful infatuations, isn’t replaced by yet another idol and doesn’t disappear with time. In fact, the relationship is central to the book, since the certain Mr. Takahashi in question has apparently chosen one sister’s crisp white linen over the other’s.

The problem with new sheets, and new novels, however, is the wrinkles. And A Certain Mr. Takahashi has its wrinkles. There are scenes in the novel, given its otherwise detailed and believable character development, that simply don’t ring true. Some of these flaws are minor inconsistencies (it is hard to believe, for example, that Jean’s parents don’t invite her personally to their gala housewarming in Victoria); others are more significant, especially toward the end of the book, when Ireland seems to be straining to build to the climax and conclude.

Despite the wrinkles, and ultimately that is all they are, A Certain Mr. Takahashi captivates. Ireland creates places and people that take on three-dimensional shape as page after page is turned. And finally, when the clock says it is time to put A Certain Mr. Takahashi down for the night, it is with a certain lingering regret.