Norbert Schulz

By the Sea Norbert Schulz

"Every man wants Marilyn but no one wants me," sobbed Miss Monroe sadly in young Pablo's head. Grandfather, however, knew that what every man wants is just a woman-preferably one in every port. But for Pablo this was a time when he was confused, by the tangle of contrasts between men and women, in the youthful turmoil of his emotions. This entertaining novel lands the reader on a Caribbean beach on tiny Caye Caulker, off Belize in 1952. The first-person narrator begins his tale with a shot of rum, in a sandy beach-bar, and an old manuscript, "By the sea", which unexpectedly arrives on his table. The charming novel - about life, and of love, even for all those who are not fishermen - took this reviewer on a delightful Caribbean reading adventure which considers the whole point of men and women.