John Benditt had a distinguished career as a science journalist, He was an editor at Scientific American and at Science before serving as editor in chief of Technology review. The Boatmaker is his debut novel.
A fierce, complicated, silent man wakes from a fewer dream compelled to build a boat a sail away from the small island where he was born. The boat carries him to the next, bigger, island, where he becomes locked in a drunken and violent affair whose explosion propels him all the way to be mainland. As the boatmaker's journey takes him deeper into the layers of racial and religious hatred, he uncovers truth that allow him to redirect the course of his destiny. Part fable, part allegory, The Boatmaker is a hunting and passionate story of love and the voyage of self-discovery.