âImmense emotional and truthful power.ââ Colm TÃģibÃn, author of Nora Webster
Anthony De Sa makes his fiction debut with this stunning collection of interlinked stories that explore the innocent dreams and bitter disappointments of the immigrant experience. Hailed as âtender and raw, morbid and surprisingly gentleâ by the Vancouver Sun, Barnacle Love was a finalist for Canadaâs highly prestigious Giller Prize.
Moving from a small Portuguese fishing village in the Azores to the shores of Newfoundland, Barnacle Love then takes us into the dark alleys of Torontoâs Portuguese community in the 1970s. The first half of the book is told by Manuel Rebelo, who has fled his homelandâand the crushing weight of his motherâs expectationsâto build a future for himself in a new land. Manuel struggles hard to adjust, but fulfilling the promise of his adopted home is not as simple as he had hoped. The second half of the book is told with candor by Manuelâs son Antonio, whoâalong with his sister and motherâlives in the shadows cast by Manuelâs failures.
With fantastic, sometimes magical details and passionate empathy, Anthony De Sa invites readers into the lives of the Rebelo family. The results are, in the words of writer Nino Ricci, âhaunting and elegiac.â