Portofino
A Novel
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3.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Calvin is the son of a missionary family, and their trip to Portofino is the highlight of his year. But even in the seductive Italian summer, the Beckers can't really relax. Calvin's father could slip into a Bad Mood and start hurling potted plants at any time. His mother has an embarrassing habit of trying to convert "pagans" on the beach. And his sister Janet has a ski sweater and a miniature Bible in her luggage, just in case the Russians invade and send them to Siberia. His dad says everything is part of God's plan. But this summer, Calvin has some plans of his own . . . Portofino is the prequel to the noted trilogy that includes Zermatt. A huge bestseller, Portofino has been translated into seven languages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sharply evocative sensuous descriptions heighten the splendor of the Italian Riviera in a beautifully written bildungsroman coming-of-age story set in the summers of 1962 and 1965. Calvin Becker, 10 years old at the start of this debut novel, and his family, American fundamentalist missionaries based in Switzerland, take 10 days every year to vacation on the Mediterranean, and these trips are the best part of Calvin's life. In Paraggi and Portofino he leaves behind the exaggerated piety of his home to bask in color and wonder. Amid his adventures Calvin confronts his mortification at the all-too-apparent differences between his family and those around them; issues of faith and tolerance; the gap between his parents' messages about charity and their marital difficulties; and his own first love--with Jennifer, a British girl who belongs to the Church of England. Writing in the first person, in the voice of the adult Calvin, Schaeffer captures the experience of boyhood with great insight and unselfconscious humor. At times distinctions between his narrator and the boy protagonist are imprecise, but this is a mere quibble with a convincing and often touching novel.
