Beyond being a love story with a cautionary tale about drug addiction, Candy looks at the human need for escapism. Through the main character's relationship we see the self-deceptions that addicts use to justify their rapid degradation, both morally and physically, in attempting to maintain their growing drug habits. Davies says: "... the character Candy is a two-dimensional approximation of the narrator's desires, obsessions and his inability to see the truth at any deep level". In the second part of the book, as the narrator and Candy meet tragedy through the loss of their unborn child and Candy's mental breakdown, the story explores the themes of guilt, loss, and self-awareness. Awards and nominations Shortlisted, Christina Stead Prize for fiction, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards 1999 Joint Winner, Best Young Australian Novelist, The Sydney Morning Herald 1998 Shortlisted, Addison Wesley Longman Award for the Best Cover/Jacket D Film adaptation A film adaptation, also called Candy (2006), stars Heath Ledger as Dan, Abbie Cornish as Candy, Geoffrey Rush as Casper, Noni Hazlehurst as Mrs. Wyatt, and Tony Martin as Mr. Wyatt. It was directed by Neil Armfield and produced by Emile Sherman and Margaret Fink. Release details 1997, Allen & Unwin, Sydney ISBN 9781864483390. Issued in paperback. pp. [viii] 286 [6] 1998, USE, Ballantine Books , Pub date 16 June 1998, Softcover 1998, Vintage Books, Random House, UK The book was also published in France (Editions Heloise d'Ormesson), Germany (Droemer-Knaur), Greece, Israel, and Spain (Editions Planeta). The subtitle, "A Novel of Love and Addiction", was only used in the American edition; elsewhere the book is only called Candy. There is also an essential difference between the American edition and all the others: in the US edition, the opening chapter "Example of Good Times" runs for only a page, then the chapter repeats and continues as the final chapter in the book. Davies has stated publicly he regrets agreeing to this change, and the Australian edition should be taken as the definitive one. References Sources Candy, Allen & Unwin 1998 Australian novels Australian novels adapted into films Australian romance novels Ballantine Books books Novels about heroin addiction Novels set in Sydney