Barnacle Love

Anthony De Sa

Summary

This tale of two generations, spanning from the Azores to Toronto’s Portuguese community, is full of “immense emotional and truthful power” (Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn).   These “beautiful [and] profoundly moving” interlinked stories of a father and son explore the innocent dreams and bitter disappointments of the immigrant experience (Booklist, starred review).   Moving from a small Portuguese fishing village in the Azores Islands to the shores of Newfoundland, Barnacle Love then takes us into the dark alleys of Toronto’s Portuguese community in the 1970s. The first half of the story is told through the perspective of the father, Manuel Rebelo, who fled his homeland—and the crushing weight of his mother’s expectations—to build a future for himself in a new land. Manuel struggles to adjust, but fulfilling the promise of his adopted home is not as simple as he had hoped.   The tale transitions to the candid point of view of Manuel’s son, Antonio, who—along with his sister and mother—lives in the shadows cast by Manuel’s failures. With fantastic, sometimes magical details and passionate empathy, this is a haunting journey into the lives of a family and its secrets.   Hailed as “tender and raw, morbid and surprisingly gentle” by the Vancouver Sun, Barnacle Love was a finalist for Canada’s prestigious Giller Prize.

Available since: 08/31/2010.

Print length: 224 pages.

Other books that might interest you

When Trying to Return Home -...

Jennifer Maritza McCauley

Profoundly moving and powerful, the stories in this collection dig deeply into the question of belonging. A young woman is torn between overwhelming love for her mother and the need to break free from her damaging influence during a desperate and disastrous attempt to rescue her brother from foster care. A man, his wife, and his mistress each confront the borders separating love and hate, obligation and longing, on the eve of a flight to San Juan. A college student grapples with the space between chivalry and machismo in a tense encounter involving a nun. And in 1930s Louisiana, a woman attempting to find a place to call her own chances upon an old friend at a bar and must reckon with her troubled past. Forming a web of desires and consequences that span generations, Jennifer Maritza McCauley’s Black American and Afro–Puerto Rican characters remind us that these voices have always been here, occupying the very center of American life—even if we haven’t always been willing to listen.

Show book

Ella D'Arcy - A Short Story...

Ella D'Arcy

Ella D'Arcy was born on 23rd August 1857 in London, one of nine children.

Her education spanned London, Germany, France and the Channel Islands. A student of fine art, her poor eyesight meant a switch to literature was needed and with this she had hopes to be an author.

She worked as a contributor and unofficial editor, alongside Henry Harland, to The Yellow Book, Aubrey Beardsley’s sensational quarterly magazine that combined art, stories, poetry, essays and much else besides. D'Arcy wrote several stories for the magazine and her stories have an undeniable psychological and realist style through her engagement with various themes from marriage, the family, imitation through to deception.

Recognition of her talents grew after the publication of ‘Irremediable’, in the Yellow Book, where it received much praise from critics.

She also wrote and published in the Argosy, Blackwood's Magazine, and Temple Bar.

However, D’Arcy’s canon was small and, apart from her magazine stories, her book publishing was limited to ‘Monochromes’ (1895), ‘Modern Instances’ and ‘The Bishop’s Dilemma’ (1898). She also translated André Maurois's biography of Percy Bysshe Shelley entitled ‘Ariel’ (1924).

Her diligence with work aside she was notorious for her inability to maintain relationships with friends. When she did appear to them it was often unannounced. This earned her the sobriquet 'Goblin Ella.'

D'Arcy spent much of her life living alone, though she had a constant urge to travel, but usually she resided on the edge of poverty. Her writing was often motivated by this need.

Much of her later life was spent in Paris before returning to London in 1937, where she died, in hospital, on 5th September 1937.

01 - Ella D'Arcy - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction
02 - At Twickenham by Ella D'Arcy
03 - White Magic by Ella D'Arcy
04 - Irremediable by Ella D'Arcy
05 - The Death Mask by Ella D'Arcy
06 - Sir Julian Garve by Ella D'Arcy

Show book

Yet More Strange Tales

Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan...

A third collection of eighteen classic tales of the weird and supernatural by some of the best known writers in these genres.E.Nesbit - “In the Dark” and “No. 17”Edgar Allan Poe - “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar”Arthur Conan Doyle - “The New Catacomb”M.R. James - “Wailing Well” and “Rats”Saki - “ The Hounds of  Fate” and “The Peace of Mowsle Barton”Hugh Walpole - “Field with Five Trees” and “The Silver Mask”E.F. Benson - “The Thing in the Hall” and “The Wishing Well”Guy de Maupassant - “The Hand” and “Mother Sauvage”Ambrose Bierce - “Moxon's Master” and “John Bartine's Watch”Wilkie Collins - “A Stolen Letter”Public Domain (P)2016 Spiders' House Audio/Roy Macready

Show book

Time to Die

Alex Howard

The kidnapping of a 12-year-old diabetic boy has blown the case of some missing children wide apart and the finger is pointing at the heart of the Met.  Boss Corrigan sends in the only cop in his team who would care more about the life of a boy than about her own career. Detective Inspector Hanlon. And then he sends someone to spy on her...

Show book

Silver - Return to Treasure Island

Andrew Motion

In the eastern reaches of the Thames lies the Hispaniola, an inn kept by Jim Hawkins and his son. Late one night, a mysterious girl named Natty arrives on the river with a request for Jim from her father - Long John Silver. Aged and weak, but still possessing a strange power, the pirate proposes Jim and Natty sail to Treasure Island in search of Captain Flint's hidden bounty. But the thrill of the ocean odyssey gives way to terror as the Nightingale reaches its destination, for it seems Treasure Island is not as uninhabited as it once was... Silver is a worthy sequel to Treasure Island and a work of extraordinary authenticity and imaginative power from one of England's greatest writers.

Show book

Burning Library

S. A. Gibson

Burning Library is a new addition to the stories set in the Protected Books world. 
Civilization as we know it has ended; not with an apocalyptic bang, but with an insidious virus. In a future where technology is lost, libraries have taken power. Scouts enforce the library rules and keep the peace. Go on the dangerous journey with librarians in this short story. 
Libraries in California are providing a book for those in New Mexico. Readers of A Dangerous Way may recognize the events that led up to this adventure. 
A library courier has an important mission for the Southwest. In this future world with no modern technology, Lindy must deliver the book against impossible odds. It falls on her to to save the future of the Southwest. 
Visit the Burning Library for action and adventure!

Show book