Three books of different coastal tales
A sort of out-harbour juvenile, a tossed dumpling, and a kitchen ‘stogged’ with people for Jiggs’ dinner
A Seal of Salvage By Clayton B. Smith Breakwater Books $22.95, 168 pages
“You won’t struggle to hear a yarn about Oliver Brown. But to hear the true story is more of an endeavour. Down the end of Main Street there’s a saltbox that’s lasted a full century, and in it lives the widow Rebecca Genge … she knew him for a short time, you see. Not well enough to think that she deserves to be called a friend, but well enough that, by the end, he might have called her one.”
That story begins before Oliver – or Rebecca, one of his cohort – was born.
It’s on the cusp of the 1950s, a night with the fog offshore as most of Salvage and much of the neighbouring communities were out for a time (“Mrs. Genge believes that the night was that of Robert Feltham’s wedding”).
At the church hall, Albert Brown is enjoying a drink with his friends when in walks a woman no one has seen before, and she makes straight for him.
“Georgia” is as beautiful as she is mysterious and it’s not long before they’re married and not much beyond that before their son, Oliver, is born. But their domestic happiness is not to last, as Albert dies of consumption and Georgia is found dead in a tub of salt water, the baby with her.
'OUTHARBOUR JUVENILE'
Oliver’s great-aunt, Elizabeth, and her husband, Aubrey, step up to raise the orphan.
In many ways, it’s the ordinary life of what Ray Guy would dub an “outharbour juvenile” – chores, school, horseplay. But in some vital ways, it is not.
The adults have not forgotten Oliver’s odd origin, and their children have inherited their mistrust, even cruelty.
Oliver is different. He loves to swim in the ocean – an activity he is warned away from, and especially from letting anyone see him engage in.
He’s never cold. And Aubrey and Elizabeth are careful to keep Oliver from the sight or sound or company of seals.
THINGS THAT COME OUT OF THE SEA
One of the few adults who doesn’t ignore him is Martin, a man himself shunned or at least avoided by much of the town.
Sometimes, Oliver isn’t sure it wouldn’t be better if Martin didn’t talk to him either – the man is full of odd tales about creatures that come out of the sea, sometimes for love, sometimes just out of curiosity.
A kind of lore adjacent to that the children like to frighten themselves with, like tales of fairies, kraken, and strange floating lights.
As Oliver searches for the truth of his lineage, the fantastic becomes increasingly embedded in reality.
COMING-OF-AGE STORY
“A Seal of Salvage” is a unique coming-of-age story, where obstacles are overcome by a hidden strength – and love – that can only be found through embracing one’s true nature and accepting fate and sacrifice.
Stylistically, the vernacular dialect is written as it sounds – “nar” for none; “I ‘llows now.”
Each chapter is named with the subtitle defining or contextualizing it: “Baccalao /Salted and/or dried codfish,” “Flipsy/to jump or traverse from one ice pan to another.”
It grounds sometimes otherworldly event with a naturalistic tone.
The Pig & The Dumpling: A Tale of Witless Bay By Bonnie Johnstone, illustrated by Veselina Tomova Running the Goat Books & Broadsides $13.99, 40 pages
What havoc ensues when a dumpling goes astray!
When three fishermen tend to a convent vegetable garden, the sisters prepare for them a “lovely dinner” of stew with dumplings.
But “Leo, one of the workers, was not fond of dumplings,” and he tosses his towards the pig pen, where Ignatius deftly catches it. Only it’s hot! Ignatius can only think “of cooling his throat in the icy cold ocean,” and off he flees, barrelling into or through all he encounters: Father Mcgettigan bearing berry pies, Lizzie Carey’s laundry; old ladies and wobbly cows.
Tomova’s illustrations, as ever, flow with life and colour, animating the text with a zesty, delicious mayhem.
The book also includes a recipe for dumplings and “A Note About the Story” and its setting, a late 19thcentury coastal outport, and the significance of the playful elements, all “inspired by an incident that took place about 100 years ago.”
Nan’s House Written by Jillian Mccarthy, illustrated by Corey Majeau Pennywell Books $18.59, 34 pages
“Swing open the door, / Boots hit the porch floor, / You hang up your jacket just so …”
For this child, there’s no adventure quite like visiting their grandmother, with promises of fresh bread, Jiggs’ dinner, “twenty people all stogged in the kitchen,” and, of course, a $20 discreetly slipped into your hand.
The narrative is told in short verses, and Majeau fills his artwork with lots of light and breath.