Probably youre talking about The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Here in Brasil we have not a good view about him, as he seems (and frequently shows himself like) a charlatan with makes money with self-help books disguised in spirituality. But his books did make a lot of success in another countries, as the people dont know him as we do (as he is brasilian).
Note Im talking only about the character of the author, so i will not flame his books before reading them.