Nest Egg

Kelly L. Green is co-author of The Ethical Shopper’s Guide to Canadian
Supermarket Products and associate editor of the Canadian Book Review
Annual.

This eerie, lyrical, Brazilian story of a cherished child’s early
arrival in the world and his family’s response to the special care he
requires, in body and in soul, was the 1991 winner of the International
Fiction Contest.

Antonio is named for the beloved saint of June, for he is born two
months early, during the rainy season, and must be named and baptized
quickly. Although “from the start, Antonio required a lot of work,”
his family is glad to make every effort to keep him in the world.
Traditional remedies are concocted for all manner of afflictions Antonio
battles, including a topical application of armadillo blood to prevent
skin disease, and drinks of rainwater from the church bell to help him
both speak and know when to hold his tongue. When these are not
sufficient, his father makes the long trip to town to obtain the
assistance of a pharmacist. After a time, Antonio begins to thrive.

Antonio’s family is not wealthy, but they have all that they need.
Antonio has no toys, but he has a wealth of things to see, understand,
and do. He is completely surrounded by a love that permeates the book
through and through. He, his two sisters, and his brother spend their
time preparing for and celebrating the traditional festivals of the
Roman Catholic year, observing the farm animals (including the chickens,
who must be allowed to keep the “nest egg”), and playing with their
very busy mother, who so obviously revels in their company.

This delicate little book does for mid–20th-century rural Brazil what
Sergei Aksakov’s Years of Childhood did for 19th-century Russia, which
is to say it beautifully captures an entire culture and way of life, to
the infinite enrichment of the rest of the world. Jane Springer’s
translation is nothing short of a poetic miracle. This is a book to read
and treasure as a child, as an adult, and as a parent. Highly
recommended.