Altared Boy

David and I met some 45 years ago. We were teenagers on different tracks destined to meet again at various stations of life. I always enjoyed his ridiculously sarcastic sense of humour, zest for life, and unusual way of challenging the narrative without destroying it. Somewhere along our jagged journeys, he and I became brothers. I was familiar with his story. What I didn't know was how well he could tell the story. The writing is excellent; the plan of unravelling it through flashbacks is brilliant, but that is not where the real punch hits.

The real punch is in 42 years of marriage, five kids and a granddaughter. It is the Lieutenant-Commander staring defiantly at his nemesis. It is the slow struggle of an overcoming spirit. He is the triumphant, relatable, flawed, and damaged man, a classic underdog story. His story chronicles the face of the 'overcomer' and becomes a template for turning surviving into thriving. Altared Boy is a gift for all still trapped in the prison of their abuser. Go ahead: unwrap it! " - Rev., T A. Jupp

In his book, Altared Boy, David Lewis attempts and succeeds in no uncertain terms to shine a light on unspeakable, unconscionable and heinous treatment by abusive Catholic priests. Each page delivers a gut-punch.

LCdr Lewis uses flashbacks to weave chapters of his life together in an exceptionally readable and compelling way. David's ability to connect past trauma to later life choices and to the soundtrack of his adult life will leave the reader with no doubt about the scope of abuse by priests or the deep trauma that inevitably follows the victims for the rest of their lives. His story-telling is riveting. You are there. You hear it. You see it. You must acknowledge it. You must process it.

If you have not been paying attention to media reports of abuse by Catholic priests or if you have purposely looked away, this book will disrupt you. It will shake you up. It will challenge your beliefs and confront your personal paradigms about the Catholic Church. The way in which the seeds planted in our childhoods become the gardens of our adult lives is inextricably linked to the sum total of our experiences. My childhood friend and schoolmate David Lewis shares with readers the traumatic seeds of betrayal from his childhood experiences and bursts through the tragedy with an encouraging and heartening conclusion. He wishes healing for the wounded, visibility for the suffering and understanding and compassion for the onlookers. Would that all survivors of abuse might emerge as my friend David Lewis has, speaking truth to power, with dignity, with compassion and with an abiding faith in humanity. - Nancy O'Grady