“Ho-l-y mackerel! Sounds pretty darn good! If you play those tunes for me again, I’ll tell you the true story of where they come from,” the old man nodded to Tamara. In the visitor’s room at the senior’s home in St. Johns, Newfoundland, the young girl rested her chin on her accordion and looked at Art Stoyles’ pale blue eyes beaming back at her like twin moons reflecting on water. Intense. Magical.
Young Tamara, a budding accordion player suffering from performance anxiety, is visiting her grandmother in the senior’s home when she meets another resident, Art Stoyles. She attempts to play for him but freezes up. He responds by asking her to play “The Portuguese Waltzes” the next time she visits. Later, Dad tells his daughter some of the local legends surrounding this elderly musician, claiming that Stoyles learned his signature song from Manuel da Silva, a Portuguese sea captain who spent part of each year fishing for cod in Newfoundland.
Simas’s brief account will serve as an introduction to this musical piece, well-known to Newfoundlanders. He also includes a brief note on the real Art Stoyles. For those not steeped in this province’s lore, the story will be less successful. Character development is kept to a minimum, Tamara’s transformation into a confident performer feels rushed, and the main points of the story are recounted by Dad rather than being worked into the plot. Clarke’s cheerful illustrations help to break up the text and add local colour to the story. Several spreads, especially one depicting the main characters performing on top of an enormous accordion, pick up the fantasy elements woven into this story.
The Mystery of the Portuguese Waltzes will probably find an audience in Atlantic Canada; libraries further west may want to pass.
Kay Weisman is a former youth services librarian at West Vancouver Memorial Library.
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