Barnacle Love (2008)

by Anthony De Sa

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Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. Short Stories. HTML: *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 Gi… (more)

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If I hadn't already read de Sa's Kicking the Sky, I think I would have been more impressed by this novel in short stories. It's all about the Portuguese immigrant experience, beginning in Barnacle Love with a Portuguese fisherman washed up on the coast of Newfoundland. (That was actually the best story.) By the 1970s, his family is living in Toronto and still embarrassing the current crop of kids with "old-country" customs such as the annual pig-butchering.
"It was an annual event—a matança—the killing. This was the kind of thing that embarrassed me; here we were in a big city with butcher shops throughout Kensington Market and yet the farmer mentality brought over from the Azores had continued. ".

I believe De Sa writes from experience, but it's the same experience we read about in Kicking the Sky. It seemed derivative here. (

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ParadisePorch | Feb 3, 2021 |

Very good book, just too similar to his other book [b:Kicking the Sky|15792510|Kicking the Sky|Anthony De Sa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367929593s/15792510.jpg|21514393]. Not sure why he duplicated details in two books, but I felt ripped off. Of the two this is a better novel, but I was so annoyed! (

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Rdra1962 | Aug 1, 2018 |

After reading Anthony De Sa's "Kicking The Sky" (Link to the Review) I decided to read his first novel "Barnacle Love." This book shows a bit more of the family history of the Rebelo clan as they try to make their way through life in Canada in the 20th Century. De Sa has documented many of the angst that many of us feel who grew up in an ethnic setting in North America.

http://wp.me/p46Ewj-um (

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steven.buechler | Apr 13, 2014 |

The story of Manuel, a Portuagese man who comes to Canada. The second half is narrated by his son. The story is told in short story/vignette form.

Rather a sad tale of a dream gone terribly wrong. Interesting that it has a similar concept as [book:The Boys in the Trees] another Giller finalist which was also told in vignettes. However, I like Boys in Trees better. Both start off going one way and then unexpected take a bad turn -- by which, I mean that things go badly for the central characters. Barnacle Love starts warm enough, possibly warmer than Boys in Trees, but grows colder, whereas Boys in Trees grows warmer and more personable.

Both books make immigration to Canada (Toronto, specifically, 60 or 70 yrs ago) seem like an awful ordeal. (

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LDVoorberg | Apr 7, 2013 |

I gave up about 2/3 of the way through. It seemed like the story on each page was disconnected from any other page, going from a dreamlike state to bitter realism without describing the journey. The characters were not developed well, to the point where they seemed to have multiple personalities. (

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VivienneR | Feb 21, 2013 |

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[T]he two parts of this intelligent yet passionate novel merge seamlessly into a double-layered, twice as effective, doubly meaningful story...

added by bell7 | editBooklist, Brad Hooper

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Awards

Scotiabank Giller Prize (Longlist – 2008)

Toronto Book Award (Nominee – 2009)

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Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction – 2010)

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St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Dedication

In memory of my mother and father

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There is nothing he can do.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Nino Ricci

Wayson Choy

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▾Book descriptions

Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. Short Stories. HTML:

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 Gi