A Murder Mystery set in Belper 1949 Death on the Derwent, a popular novel first published in 1999, rapidly sold out. With mixed feelings, I agreed to a Second Edition reprinted in 2014. Why mixed feelings? In the introduction to the Second Edition (see the photograph below) I attempted to answer this question. In 2014, I also published the gay novel I most esteem – Sea Change which is a factual autobiography concealed inside a book disguised as a work of fiction. A joy to write, Sea Change is the novel of which I am most proud. Death on the Derwent is the title which inspires in me a feeling of shame and betrayal because, still in my closet, I was complicit with homophobia. In 2003, bravely, I made a break with the past and published Lost Lad which revealed my homosexuality. An American publisher in 2010 gave me the chance to take the next step and share with the world a powerful gay love in Secret Summer which gripped me in 1966. Double Life in 2019 and 16 in 61 in 2022 provided further clarifications exposing the pain and suffering of LGBT people in the 20th century. Copies of the Second Edition of Death on the Derwent are availabe from Narvel's Dobba’s Delights Amazon store, by clicking here.
First editions might still be available on the internet. A short film based on Narvel's Death on the Derwent was once made as a college project by Duncan McFarlane. This can be viewed on YouTube by clicking on the following link: https://youtu.be/am_2CXCZJTw Comments are closed.
|