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Candy Nevill
Some people have a gift for cooking and Candy Nevill is lucky enough to be one of those people. Unfortunately, she’s also the slowest and youngest member of a family of academic high-flyers who don’t always value light scones or delicious suppers when compared to captaining sports teams or achieving the highest marks.
Candida Nevill, known to the family as Candy, is an ordinary schoolgirl with a habit of daydreaming and coming a very distant fourth to her three successful and confident elder siblings. Candy is content to drift through her schooldays, not even playing team games, and it’s only the start of cooking lessons that show that she can be successful too.
Unpublished in her lifetime Clare Mallory’s novel is a tale of childhood life in New Zealand.
Candida Nevill, known to the family as Candy, is an ordinary schoolgirl with a habit of daydreaming and coming a very distant fourth to her three successful and confident elder siblings. Candy is content to drift through her schooldays, not even playing team games, and it’s only the start of cooking lessons that show that she can be successful too.
Unpublished in her lifetime Clare Mallory’s novel is a tale of childhood life in New Zealand.
266 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
11 people want to read
About the author
Clare Mallory
12 books6 followers'Clare Mallory' was a pseudonym of Winifred Constance McQuilkan Hall, a New Zealand children's author and educator who was born in 1913, in Invercargill. Educated at Southland Girls' High School, where she boarded after the death of both her parents in her early teens, she won a scholarship to Otago University, where she took first class honours in English, second class honours in Classics, the Macmillan Brown Prize, and a postgraduate scholarship to Oxford. It was at Otago that McQuilkan became friends with fellow writer Dan Davin, as well as her future husband, Frank Hall, who would go on to study medicine.
After two years at Somerville College (1937-39), McQuilkan again took first honours in English, and returning to New Zealand, she taught at Otago Girls' High School, and, in 1942, became headmistress of Columba College, Dunedin. This experience as an educator undoubtedly lent an authenticity to her school stories, which she began to write during her tenure at Columba. They began as stories the author told to her students during parties held to organize parcels sent to England during World War II, with the first - Merry Begins - being published in 1947.
In 1949, McQuilkan married Frank Hall, and accompanied him to England, where they lived in London. In 1952, the couple returned again to New Zealand, settling in Wellington, where the author taught at two girls' schools, and eventually, at Victoria University. She retired in 1978, was hospitalized for Alzheimer's Disease in 1986, and died in 1991.
After two years at Somerville College (1937-39), McQuilkan again took first honours in English, and returning to New Zealand, she taught at Otago Girls' High School, and, in 1942, became headmistress of Columba College, Dunedin. This experience as an educator undoubtedly lent an authenticity to her school stories, which she began to write during her tenure at Columba. They began as stories the author told to her students during parties held to organize parcels sent to England during World War II, with the first - Merry Begins - being published in 1947.
In 1949, McQuilkan married Frank Hall, and accompanied him to England, where they lived in London. In 1952, the couple returned again to New Zealand, settling in Wellington, where the author taught at two girls' schools, and eventually, at Victoria University. She retired in 1978, was hospitalized for Alzheimer's Disease in 1986, and died in 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 13, 2021
Candy (Candida) Nevill was the youngest and seemingly least significant of the four Nevill children, being neither a talented sportsperson and a great social success like the twins, Mark and Roslyn; nor brilliantly gifted intellectually, like Bets (Mary Elizabeth). Her father, Dr. Nevill, valued achievement in his children, and while he wasn't unkind, it was clear that he wasn't sure what to make of the shy, awkward, non-achieving Candy, who was clumsy in games, and seemingly uninterested in her schoolwork. Candy's one area of interest - cooking - didn't particularly strike her family as an important one, although her contributions to the household chores certainly made home more pleasant for the entire family. Slowly, over many years, in school and at home, Candy gained greater confidence as a person, and grew in her culinary skill. She also demonstrated, time and again, far more important qualities than either good cookery or scholastic achievement. Namely: an honest, upright nature, and a kind and generous heart. In the end, these qualities were put to the test, and only afterward did the Nevill family realize how much their youngest member had sacrificed for them, and how her seemingly insignificant contributions had allowed the rest of them to shine...
Originally written from 1949 through 1950, while New Zealand author Clare Mallory (real name: Winifred Constance McQuilkan Hall) was living in London with her husband, Candy Nevill was never published in its author's lifetime. It remained as a type-written manuscript in her papers, until the London-based Margin Notes Books published it, in 2012. Thank goodness they did, as this is simply a marvelous book! I am amazed that no one wanted to publish it, especially in Mallory's own country, where the story is set. Engaging, entertaining, and ultimately heartwarming, this is a story of a child overshadowed by her elders, and underestimated by almost everyone in her life; a child who knows she isn't the best and brightest, but who always manages to do her best, when it comes to the activities she enjoys, and the people she loves. As Mr. Howard notes at the end, Candy has something even better than medals and prizes: she has a loving and generous heart. Although nothing like Candy when I was young myself, I entered wholeheartedly into her story, and was continually rooting for her. I loved reading about her different cooking adventures, her Saturday morning excursions with Bets, the ups and downs of her friendship with Ianthe Howard - in short, everything in the book was delightful. The conclusion, in which the Nevills finally really see her, is deeply satisfying, and is made all the sweeter, for both reader and heroine, as it is a reward that has been long-delayed. I found myself tearing up, while reading it.
Candy Nevill is the tenth children's novel I have read from Mallory, whose work I greatly enjoy, and it is the first of her two posthumously-published titles I have encountered. Unlike the earlier nine books, it is not a school story, although it is set partially at school, and has school story elements. Unexpectedly, given how much I have enjoyed the earlier titles, I think this is my favorite so far, of Mallory's books, which is saying something indeed! I found Candy a fascinating figure, partially because she is so very endearing, and partially because I am working on a fanfiction (my very first work of fiction, in a field entirely unrelated to this) that features a similar type of character. I was more emotionally involved with her story, than with any other Mallory character I have thus far encountered, and finished the book with a deep sense of satisfaction. Highly recommended, to anyone who appreciates well-written, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying middle-grade fiction.
Addendum: although I would say that this was more of a 4.5-star book for me, I chose to go with the 5-star rating, as half stars are not available here on goodreads. I don't usually round up in this way, when it's the difference between 4 and 5 stars, as I consider the latter very special indeed, but given that I enjoyed this more than other Mallory titles, and that most of those were awarded 4 stars, I decided to make an exception.
Originally written from 1949 through 1950, while New Zealand author Clare Mallory (real name: Winifred Constance McQuilkan Hall) was living in London with her husband, Candy Nevill was never published in its author's lifetime. It remained as a type-written manuscript in her papers, until the London-based Margin Notes Books published it, in 2012. Thank goodness they did, as this is simply a marvelous book! I am amazed that no one wanted to publish it, especially in Mallory's own country, where the story is set. Engaging, entertaining, and ultimately heartwarming, this is a story of a child overshadowed by her elders, and underestimated by almost everyone in her life; a child who knows she isn't the best and brightest, but who always manages to do her best, when it comes to the activities she enjoys, and the people she loves. As Mr. Howard notes at the end, Candy has something even better than medals and prizes: she has a loving and generous heart. Although nothing like Candy when I was young myself, I entered wholeheartedly into her story, and was continually rooting for her. I loved reading about her different cooking adventures, her Saturday morning excursions with Bets, the ups and downs of her friendship with Ianthe Howard - in short, everything in the book was delightful. The conclusion, in which the Nevills finally really see her, is deeply satisfying, and is made all the sweeter, for both reader and heroine, as it is a reward that has been long-delayed. I found myself tearing up, while reading it.
Candy Nevill is the tenth children's novel I have read from Mallory, whose work I greatly enjoy, and it is the first of her two posthumously-published titles I have encountered. Unlike the earlier nine books, it is not a school story, although it is set partially at school, and has school story elements. Unexpectedly, given how much I have enjoyed the earlier titles, I think this is my favorite so far, of Mallory's books, which is saying something indeed! I found Candy a fascinating figure, partially because she is so very endearing, and partially because I am working on a fanfiction (my very first work of fiction, in a field entirely unrelated to this) that features a similar type of character. I was more emotionally involved with her story, than with any other Mallory character I have thus far encountered, and finished the book with a deep sense of satisfaction. Highly recommended, to anyone who appreciates well-written, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying middle-grade fiction.
Addendum: although I would say that this was more of a 4.5-star book for me, I chose to go with the 5-star rating, as half stars are not available here on goodreads. I don't usually round up in this way, when it's the difference between 4 and 5 stars, as I consider the latter very special indeed, but given that I enjoyed this more than other Mallory titles, and that most of those were awarded 4 stars, I decided to make an exception.
July 2, 2021
gave it four stars because I read it in a single 1 1/2 house sitting, and could imagine re-reading it as a comfort read, but it isn't one that deeply moved me, unless you count being moved to anger at the father.
January 3, 2022
Candy is the youngest of four. Quiet and unobtrusive, and seemingly a slow learner, she's overshadowed by her siblings' conspicuous academic, athletic and social successes. This is a lovely story of how Candy comes to discover her own worth and talents. New Zealand author Clare Mallory published many school stories in the late 1940s and 1950s. This book was written around the same time but inexplicably wasn't published in her lifetime. It's splendid that the publisher, Margin Notes, brought it to light, and I'm eager to read the other Margin Notes Mallory novel that previously only existed in ms., Anna ~ Charlotte. My only, really trifling, complaint is that such a nice family story deserves something better than a stock photo of a cake as a cover.
March 31, 2013
A lovely children's book written in 1949-50, but never published in the author's lifetime. Wonderful of Margin Notes Books to publish it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews