The Connor family lives in a small fishing village in Newfoundland. It's the early 1990s and the fish have disappeared; slowly, the village empties of its residents who move to find work elsewhere. Aidan and Martha eventually have to compromise and so one of them leaves for a month to go work in the oil industry in Alberta while the other stays home with their children, Cora and Finn. Each month they switch off. Meanwhile, Finn is convinced he can lure the fish back and make his family and community whole again. Interspersed with this narrative is the story of how Aidan and Martha met and fell in love.

I wasn't sure about this book at first - it took some time to settle into, it but I ended up really enjoying the experience. There is something folkloric about it that I loved. I listened to the audio, and the narrator's Canadian accent and ability to sing really enhanced the story.

4 stars ( )

Emma Hooper knows family. ( )

I think it must be me. This book came very highly recommended to me. I just could not engage. The basic plot line was interesting, a declining fishing community in Newfoundland and its residents and traditions. It jumped around in a way that required too much attention to follow. Oh well. ( )

I came across this book by chance in a sale and purchased it though I wasn’t previously familiar with the author.

This is a unique book, different from any others I have read. It is poetic, in fact in places so poetic and imprecise that I can’t really fathom what is going on, what the author is trying to tell us, since I require concrete, explicit explanations if I’m to understand anything fully.

The story tells of a family living by the coast of Newfoundland in 1992/3 – Aidan and Martha and their children, ten year-old Finn and fourteen year-old Cora. Their lives are dominated by the sea; there are stormy nights and singing mermaids.

The singing of the mermaids bring out thousands of cod.

But the fish disappear; Finn used to count the lights of the fishing-boats but soon they vanish too.

Interspersed with accounts of what is happening to the family in the 1990s are sections telling us of Aidan and Martha in their youth and Martha’s three sisters.

Martha’s surname is Murphy, she was thirteen when both her parents drowned. Aidan’s surname is Connor, and it is said that all Connors are cheats. With surnames like Murphy and Connor the family must have had Irish forebears.

People are leaving their homes. Cora takes over these deserted houses and turns each of them into a country, decorating them appropriately. Aidan and Martha leave too for short periods, taking turns in doing so, perhaps working away from home.

The library has also been abandoned and the children are able to use it freely: they carefully register the books they borrow.

They all sing and play musical instruments; Finn is taking accordion lessons from Mrs Callaghan who lives alone across the sound from them; he has to row out to her, which is often dangerous because of the stormy weather.

At one point Cora runs away. The family is distraught and do what they can to find her, of course. I never found out why Cora left, perhaps just to seek adventure.

This is a very readable, enjoyable book about this imaginative, musical, creative family. I would recommend it to other such imaginative souls, in fact to everyone. ( )

Amazing writing! The world is falling apart around this Newfoundland family because the cod are gone, but the narrative does not feel hopeless. Instead, there is an easy coast calm, a peace, an optimism that is unique to that part of the country and conveyed in the style of writing. I don't really know what it is about the style, but it was the writing that kept me in the story, more than the story itself. It is the story of a family battered by many storms but still enduring. There is a touch of whimsy because of the children's imagination and tenacity. The parents are disconnected from their childhood selves as only adulthood can make one not child-like, but their backstory is also charming. A delightful sorrowful read. ( )