(7.5)The late Peter Wells was a respected gay writer. I suspect this coming of age story is partly based on his own childhood experiences. It is sexually explicit and some might find it confronting. It is a disturbing tale of a young boys life while his parents were on an extended absence in Australia. ( )

11-year-old Jamie Caughy is a highly strung, intelligent boy who lives in New Zealand. His parents go an extended holiday to Australia and he is looked after by friends. ‘Uncle’ Ambrose persuades Jamie to take a bath with him and Jamie’s ‘Aunty’ Gilda wals in on them and makes Jamie keep it a secret. ( )

Peter Wells' use of language in "Boy Overboard" is lavish and very beautiful. It is sensual. subtly erotic and mysterious. It has a psychological flavour not unlike the novels of Yukio Mishima or Ishiguro's "Unconsoled".

The boy overboard is Jammie, floating in the world of boys towards the world of adults. His parents have gone away for a while and he and his brother are staying (separately) with family friends.

There are many unresolved and mysterious events in the story, but most enigmatic is the absence of any kind of frame to the whole story. The almost infantile speech of the young Jammie contrasts with the elaborate eloquence of the narrator, an apparently much older Jammie remembering his boyhood experience. This distance in time that I have assumed seems to contradict the intimacy and detail of his memories and adds to the feeling of strangeness (sometimes perversity) that I felt when reading this story.

Beautiful, mysterious, psychological and a bit strange … wonderful. ( )