Friday 7 June 2019

First Love: Atlantic Winds by William Prendiville


First Love

A review of William Prendiville's Atlantic Winds

Judging by the quality of this debut novella and Omar Sabbagh’s Minutes from the Miracle City (which I reviewed earlier on this blog), the second wave of “Fairlight Moderns” from Fairlight Books promises to be something to really look forward to.     

William Prendiville’s Atlantic Winds is set in the 1970s in the small island community of Bear Lake, off mainland Canada.  It opens with an ominous prologue, as a one-time resident returns to pay his respects at a grave at the town cemetery.  In contrast, the ensuing chapters of the novella evoke a wistful, tender atmosphere, centred as they are around protagonists Tom and Sasha’s first attempts at love.  The growth of the teenagers' relationship has something bucolic about it: nurtured by the play of the changing seasons, at its idyllic best amidst natural surroundings.   

However, this coming-of-age story also develops against the backdrop of civil unrest in the town of Bear Lake, which relies for its economic survival on the beleaguered logging industry.  As employees are laid off and unions escalate industrial action, tension rises in a community which is already prone to gossip and divisions.  Sasha’s father is a factory foreman and Tom longs to get away from it all.  It will take all of the young lovers’ efforts to avoid getting sucked into this incendiary vortex. 

Atlantic Winds is a little gem. Its writing is lyrical, characters are well-drawn, the dialogue convincing and the plot has some unexpected turns.  By its poignant conclusion, it was reminding me of the verismo operas of the early 20th Century or the short stories of Giovanni Verga.  Admittedly, this comparison might seem unlikely applied to a contemporary novella by an Irish, Paris-based writer.  Since I would like to avoid spoilers, I invite you to read the work for yourself and see whether or not you agree.

Paperback144 pages

Expected publication: July 11th 2019 by Fairlight Books

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