An award-winning story of friendship and the power of imagination, from the celebrated author of The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman

The loss of a parent brought them together. Two boys united by grief.

Set on the rugged north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, where the wind merges with the forest and the waves, where albatross whirl overhead and snow lies deep on the land, two lonely boys form a powerful friendship. Together they take refuge in a magical undersea world of their own creation, searching for a sense of belonging. But for one of them the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur, and the loyalty of his friend is put to the test in a journey that threatens to end in tragedy.

Infused with his characteristic charm, Denis Thériault’s novel The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea is a powerful fable about the pain of losing someone you love and the longing for security, which has touched readers’ hearts all over the world.

Prizes

Winner of Prix Odyssée 2002 (Canada),Winner of Prix Anne-Hébert 2002 (Canada),Winner of Prix Jean Hamelin 2001 (Canada)

‘A dreamy, underwater experience, this brief novel by Thériault is a hallucinogenic dive into another realm… Here is a fragile poetry, charming and childlike in its simplicity, yet profound on the unfathomable depths of loss, of love.’

'Thériault…blurs reality and fantasy in a heartbreaking story of boyhood friendship.'

'Thériault is a writer with a lightness of touch, allowing him to explore darker themes in a way that never feels heavy, but always engages. The result is a debut that draws you into its own intriguing, evocative world.'

‘What a beauty this book is... "Quirky" and "charming" have been used to describe [Thériault's] books, but they are so much more than that.’

‘Thériault is a writer with a lightness of touch, allowing him to explore darker themes in a way that never feels heavy, but always engages.’

Denis Thériault is an award-winning author and screenwriter living in Montreal, Canada. His much-loved novels The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman and The Postman’s Fiancée (Oneworld, 2017) have enjoyed international success. First published in Canada in 2003, The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea is his debut novel.