A Moody Milieu
Humphrey Bogart
Film noir reference foreshadows protagonist’s descent into the underworld of spying and silent killing
by Timothy Paleczny
In the opening chapter of Breath of the Adamastor, a string of scenes shows how protagonist Ardis Lowney has been inspired to pursue her studies in marine biology. Immediately prior to Canada's declaration of war in 1939, she and her friends in Vancouver are practically giddy with the allure of Big Bands as well as Hollywood’s fixation with film noir. At cinemas, they take in movies of tough guys in suits, overcoats, and fedoras, smoking cigarettes in pools of light under street lamps and in the headlights of cars racing through the streets. Hold it, these images are not in the story! They reflect my anachronistic reference point in the 1941 film, The Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart.
In the story, Ardis expresses her fascination with Bogart, foreshadowing her descent into the underworld of spying and silent killing. Later in the story when she is recruited and trained as an Allied spy next to the likes of Ian Fleming at Camp X, Bogart surfaces as her model of what a spy should be like.
Camp X is the training facility for spies that operated in the Toronto area during the early 1940s.
Inspired by true events nearly a century ago, Breath of the Adamastor goes on to weave unique cultural aspects and plausible actions set in Portugal and Italy. In Portugal, for example, Carlos, a Portuguese seminarian, distinguishes himself with his fervour in promoting the miracles of Fatima and is chosen to attend a papal college in Anagni and Rome, where he meets Laurenza, a nun. Let’s just say things get spicy in the pantry. As Allied bombing encroaches on their lives in Rome, Carlos is recalled to Lisbon.
Around the same time, Ardis takes up her first posting as a spy in Lisbon, which is a hot bed for international intrigue. After Nazi Germany occupies France, Lisbon becomes the principal gateway in and out of Europe for refugees, especially Jews, fleeing the Nazis. Officers in uniform from all sides, eat and drink in the same restaurants and bars while Jewish refugees crowd cobblestone sidewalks and cafes as they wait for passage to the Americas.
In a serendipitous incident, Ardis encounters Carlos on a beach north of Lisbon, and they become friends. They meet again for dinner in a Lisbon bar crowded with Nazis, Brits, and Americans. Carlos introduces Ardis to Manfred, a Nazi diplomat. That evening, she learns that Carlos sells wolfram to Manfred. During her training at Camp X, Ardis had learned that wolfram is a strategic metal needed to feed the Nazi war machine, so she reports what she learns to her superior officer.
The officer orders Ardis to accompany Carlos to a remote village, frozen in time, to obtain intelligence on his supplies of wolfram. An incident in the village compromises everyone. Ardis is certain that Manfred suspects she is a spy, making her even more eager to get out on the Water Dog, her research vessel. She recruits Carlos and Xisco, a stable boy from the village, to be her crew.
Once on the water, they witness an abundance of marine life, and Ardis makes an extraordinary marine biology discovery. But Manfred is closing in. She finds herself staring down the barrel of his Luger.
The narrative and the scenes of Breath of the Adamastor are memorable and may likely resonate long afterwards as if you had seen a movie. As such, Breath of the Adamastor appeals to readers of historical fiction. But beware! The story is not a spy novel per se, nor a romance, but a genre-blending literary thriller with a dash of magic realism, which I discuss in another piece like this on Cavalarico.com
I invite you to immerse yourself in the world of Breath of the Adamastor. You might enjoy your reading experience and I hope you will take away memories that stay with you a lifetime. There's another reason why you may want to read Breath of the Adamastor soon. The sequel picks up exactly where Breath of the Adamastor leaves you. That's all I'm able to say for now.
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