Sea Change
A Mystery set in Derbyshire 1957 and 1958 Here a story of transformation: a journey from despair to delight - a change from boy to man. In early teens I escaped from a living hell of hymns and prayers into an enchanted world of quirky fairytale people inhabiting the nooks and crannies of deepest Derbyshire. Follow me as I transform from a rough and miserable urchin who - ‘suffers a sea-change into something rich and strange’ – as sung by Ariel, the airy spirit from The Tempest. This is the novel in which I am most proud. I disclose confidential, erotic and embarrassing details which many gay boys of the 1950s have taken to their graves. In this autobiographic effort, I expose the Dickensian Church of England Mundy Street Boys School ordeal of sex slavery and bullying in Heanor. Cruelty has a cost. Approaching my 80s, I’m now paying the bill. These true-life adventures are set in a shadowy gay world under the secretive mainstream of a homosexual underclass – a taboo within a taboo. With the help of legislation and enlightened education, the LGBT community of 2024 hopes these horrors, which have damaged so many, have gone forever. The text explodes myths and challenges conventional thinking. Whilst not condoning, it does not condemn. At the brink of self-destruction, my sexual abuser actually became my saviour! He gave me the courage to escape and live - rather than die in a culture where a boy was esteemed by his ability to inflict humiliation, pain and suffering on others. I’m grateful to Emma Clayton of Bradford’s Telegraph and Argus who, in her review, warned that the book was a ‘tough read in places.’ She also said – ‘This novel is really a love letter to Narvel’s native Derbyshire with beautifully written passages devoted to its natural landscape’. You can purchase Sea Change through Narvel's Dobba's Delights Amazon store via the following link: https://amzn.to/3SD9H92 Comments are closed.
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