Daniel, at sea

by Philip Dundas, Robert Littleford (Illustrator)

The lives of two young lovers are torn apart under Franco's brutal dictatorship in 1960s Barcelona. Half a century later, Daniel must face the truth about the terrifying ending of this passionate love affair and whether everything in his life until that moment may have been a lie.
Following the death of his wife and the wreckage of Hurricane Sandy, retired professor Daniel Sale, the last of a wealthy Connecticut family, wonders whether it is too late for him to live, or love, again.
The storm of oppression which nearly destroys Daniel's life still rages under the chilling power of authoritarian regimes all around the world today where gay men are tortured, imprisoned and even stoned to death. Haunted by the suicide of his first lover, Philip Dundas weaves a tale of forbidden love and suppressed desire as part of the ongoing tragedy of lgbtq+ history.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 14, 2021

About the author

I was brought up on a farm in Scotland. After being expelled from school, aged 19 I got on a bus to London where I danced with every boy in town and got involved in the music business.

But I have never lost my love for Scotland returning often to follow my lifelong yearning to walk the paths and ways across hills and high lands whenever I can.

But my most steadfast love has always been the escape offered by books

My first book 'Cooking without Recipes' (2011) was inspired by teaching my elderly widowed father to cook his favourite dishes. Following its moderate success, I opened a restaurant in London called PipsDish.

'Daniel, at sea' is my debut novel.

Reviews

[Raymond Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Daniel, at sea’ by Philip Dundas, his first novel, is a highly evocative story of life, love and loss borne through time. Set amidst two differing worlds and periods, past and present, that of affluent America East Cost culture and Spain under the edict and tyranny of the fascist Franco and his law enforcement agencies. It's beauty lies in the unspoken weight of the sweetest and most traumatic of memories of love and a grief born stoically. Dundas conjures up the story using all the senses, giving life to the places and people we encounter. We see, hear, taste and smell the settings, but most of all we feel the depth and expanse of human emotion, during the best of times and the worst. Hardly can there be a more subtlety wrought tale, where less is more, where restraint, resilience and dearest affection allows love to reconcile across the oceans of time and culture. I highly recommend you taking time to share in the lives of Daniel, his lover Xavi, their friends and complex families. An astonishingly moving and powerful first work by Philip Dundas and a joy to read.

[Jamie Jauncey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daniel, At Sea is a highly accomplished and assured debut novel from Philip Dundas. Moving between contemporary New England and Franco's Spain, the story focuses on an intense but proscribed love affair, and its consequences for the life of Daniel, the main protagonist, many decades later. This is a book written with a keen eye for detail and a sense of the aesthetic appropriate to the refined sensibilities of Daniel, a retired professor whose wife has recently died and who now fears the prospect of a lonely descent into decrepitude. Place - Barcelona and Connecticut – is warmly and vividly brought to life, and there is passion in the deeply felt portrayal of Daniel's relationships, past and present. No punches are pulled when it comes to the brutality of the Franco regime and the psychological damage inflicted on its victims; yet at heart, this is a story of hope for old age. Daniel, At Sea is a beautiful book that deserves to be read slowly and savoured, as much for its language and style as for the power of the story it tells.

[A D · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story of rich, entitled and rather fatuous folk

Overwritten and schmaltzy and also prolix tale of love across social boundaries, the poor die off, the truly entitled get to live again and very well too. Loads of petty snobbery about old, white Eastcoast families and parodic mincing documentaries of gay curators in Franquiste Barcelona. The fate of gayness here is such radical social conservatism in the mode of Martha Stewart that l feel humiliated to have fallen for it.

[Maureen Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great first novel - a tale of love and loss and memories. It is set in East Coast America and Barcelona and the author’s writing takes you right there to the time of Franco’s oppression of Spain and it’s people, but also the wealth and privilege of Daniels’s life in the US.
The novel moves through time and place is intriguing and cleverly written.
It’s sad but also hopeful. Uplifting too.

[carelessdestiny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel with wisdom, passion, conviction and complexity that is breathtaking to read.

[Zoë Darbyshire · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Daniel, at Sea' is an intoxicating and intriguing journey of humanity bound up in the story of Daniel Sale, characters that surround him, and of his past. It brushes seamlessly and without over sentimentality against the visceral and intellect, triggering us with potent descriptions of the ordinary and extraordinary, of place and time. Dundas' seductive writing connects and engages the reader, accomplishing a beautifully crafted urgency which accelerates the heart accompanied by a stunning soundtrack of musical references, woven skilfully through the text . This irresistible novel is sure to transport you within and without, and refresh faith in the values of friendship, tolerance and love.