Book Review – Boy by the Sea – A fascinating new novel by Rey Altema, MD

The “BOY BY THE SEA,” the debut novel of Reynald Altema, MD is an enchanting and riveting story taking place in Haiti but it might as well have been back home or any tropical setting. In an elegant style and a free flowing story telling manner, the book focuses on first Raymond -a young boy living with his mom, Marie, who is poor and barely able to feed him-a smart, resourceful but underperforming student who is growing up besotted because he has no father, is aimless and resents the Christmas holiday since he won’t get any gift. His lot gets better once an old fisherman who is courting his mom becomes part of his life.  In succession, Altema narrates the link between different characters who are part of Raymond’s life. Each one has a tragic past; each one is a hard working, honest, albeit poor.
This is a coming of age fable in a way, filled with wisdom. It depicts how one’s character needs not be solely molded by poverty, i.e one needs not be well heeled to be an upright citizen or perform well in school. This axiom is music to our ears, us parents of teens growing up in an environment where pernicious mannerisms and behavior of an influential small group have led many to associate hooliganism with poverty on one hand and endemic in certain ethnic groups on the other. We call this sophistry, pure and simple.
We like the book. Its appeal is wide; its audience includes the adolescents and the adults. It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Authorhouse websites as an e-book, soft or hardcover. We wish him well and wait for an encore.

Posted by on Apr 15 2014. Filed under Artcultainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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