FICKETT, David C. 1958(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1958; married; wife's name Elizabeth; children: one daughter, two sons.

ADDRESSES: Home—Winter Harbor, ME. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Forge, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

MEMBER: Peninsula Writers Group.

WRITINGS:

Nectar, Forge (New York, NY), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Puckerbrush Review, Peninsula Review, and Wilmington Blues.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A novel.

SIDELIGHTS: David C. Fickett's debut novel, Nectar, opens with Caleb Gilley returning home to Maine to bury the man his mother loved, a man he secretly hopes was his father. Ginny Merritt did not marry Duffy Pendleton, although she loved him. She instead married Henry Gilley, whose finances were adequate to support the farm that came under her care. Henry became an alcoholic and left Ginny before Caleb was born. As a child, Ginny had learned beekeeping from her father, a sexually abusive man, and as an adult woman, she continues to maintain the hives and farm alone, as well as open a small café. Booklist reviewer Carol Haggas noted the author's use of the "life as a hive" metaphor in Nectar, but added that "Fickett's sagacious treatment is both sublime and apt, superbly capturing the subtle intricacies of complex relationships." A Kirkus Reviews contributor described the novel as "a gothic plot with literary ambitions—but also with a protagonist whose chillingly monstrous behavior makes sympathy out of the question." Library Journal contributor Jo Manning wrote that Nectar is a "disturbing but beautifully told tale, which is sometimes reminiscent of [Edith Wharton's short novel] Ethan Frome." A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that "there are stretches that recall the early work of Carolyn Chute (minus the grotesque humor), a reference that bodes well for Fickett's future as a novelist."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2002, Carol Haggas, review of Nectar, p. 1089.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2002, review of Nectar, p. 207.

Library Journal, February 15, 2002, Jo Manning, review of Nectar, p. 176.

Publishers Weekly, February 18, 2002, review of Nectar, p. 69.