Adult Coming of Age / Romance
Date Published: February 23, 2023
A #1 Amazon Bestseller, Peter Cloutier’s “What We Were Making” is
a must-read for those who love ocean adventures, political thrillers,
romance, or coming-of-age stories!
When the lives of two expatriates intersect at the edge of civilization,
opportunity, duty and deception collide. Jane is a budding ambassador of
heightened motivation, insight, and curiosity. Relentless in her pursuit of
justice, ethics, and the common good, her life lacks love. Enter Bill, an
adrenaline-fueled waterman who lives breath to breath, wave to wave, and
fish to fish. A schoolteacher by day, he embodies the island life but
without partnership. When catastrophe unfolds, the two must respond to those
in need while attempting to dismantle the deeper collusion around them. In
the end, the only winners are those who have the resilience to stand.
What others have to say about Peter Cloutier’s “What We Were
Making”:
“A masterful blend of two contrasting worlds, political and natural,
Peter Cloutier’s What We Were Making is a sensational and evocative journey
into the lives of two lovers suffering the greatest challenge of all:
meaning. With a new layer of domesticity, romanticism, policy, and reality
in each chapter, it is as multidimensional as it is tragic, and a must-read
in any event.” – JJ Hebert, USA Today, WSJ and #1 Amazon best-selling
author
“A tremendous homage to the worlds of land and sea, of beautiful
conflicts of interest, and I hope that all readers may find the same grace,
eloquence, and courage that I found in…” – Mariel Hemingway,
Oscar-nominated actress and author, granddaughter of Nobel Prize-winning
novelist Ernest Hemingway
EXCERPT
FOREWORD
As my grandfather once wrote, “Courage is grace under pressure.” No quote in the literary world better encapsulates the characters, motivations, and essence of Peter Cloutier’s triumphant novel, What We Were Making than this one. Raised in the company of not only great writers but great fishermen, I learned from an early age that a writer’s relationship with character or a fisherman’s relationship with, well, fish, comes down to just that: courage. Like many of my grandfather’s great works, this novel and its delightful characters stand for something and do so with the courage to make that something count.
Ultimately, fishing was Papa’s greatest escape, not in competition with his writing, but in harmony. Bill, one half of our narrator duo and an avid waterman, and Jane, a justice-seeking professional and our other narratorial half, will soon arrive at a not-so-very-different crossroads, where their priorities and values are tested. And it is not then a question of which course Bill and Jane will choose between two extremely different lives, as it never seemed to be for Papa when it came to choosing between writing and fishing, but how they will build something together and something greater than themselves.
Peter’s book is a harbor for courage: courageous characters, courageous writing, courageous causes. I thank him for this tremendous homage to the worlds of land and sea, of beautiful conflicts of interest, and I hope that all readers may find the same grace, eloquence, and courage that I found in What We Were Making.
—Mariel Hemingway
About the Author
Peter is a waterman with over twenty years working in the South Pacific,
Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. He has enjoyed working with countries
and communities in the development of greater marine conservation and access
to justice, more resilient water, sanitation and hygiene systems, and better
maternal-child health and control against infectious diseases. He is married
and a proud father of two children. He is disabled after suffered a
traumatic brain injury while working in Afghanistan and has pledged to
donate a significant portion of the revenue from his writing to charitable
groups located in the countries where he has worked. Learn more about Peter
and his family on social media and www.seatheworld.org.
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