Summers in Squid Tickle: A Newfoundland Odyssey

Summary

Robert Finch arrived in Newfoundland in the summer of 1995 heartsick, directionless, his old life on Cape Cod in tatters. Burnside, located in Newfoundland's rugged northeast, seemed like a good place to heal.

Eventually Finch became a summer resident, buying a house, playing organ for the church, and fishing the area's waters. Offering a portrait of the Newfoundland character and culture, Summers in Squid Tickle explores how three generations of the village have grappled with the changes of the past century—from the rise and collapse of commercial cod fishing, and the migration of young people away from the outport, to the distant hope for tourism and new industries to sustain a disappearing way of life. With characteristically elegant prose and deep sensitivity, Finch introduces us to Squid Tickle's inhabitants—a collection of hardy fishermen, vigorous retirees, and close neighbors, as well as the woman who would become his wife.

Even as the fish in Squid Tickle's waters vanish, Finch sketches the enduring relationship of a village with the sea—for food, work, leisure, and a rich community life—in the midst of an unforgiving but stunning landscape. Summers in Squid Tickle speaks to the desire we all have in our era to seek quiet, and to reevaluate our connection to each other and the natural world.