Contemporary

The Opal Causeway

by D H Yeats
Released: 28th October, 2022
ISBN:
9781915352057
eISBN:
9781915603470
Gay photographer, Pete, is catapulted into a world completely at odds with the tenets instilled in him during childhood as he explores his sexuality and experiences the cruelties and injustices of the world.

Paperback

£9.99

Buy as an ebook

RRP £4.99

Find this ebook at your favourite retailer below:

amazon

Full synopsis

As he explores his sexuality, Pete, a gay photographer, experiences the cruelties and injustices of a world completely at odds with the tenets instilled in him during childhood.

While sharing a Notting Hill squat during a seemingly endless summer with friends Mel and Baz, he meets Brad, a mysterious American, at a happening in Chalk Farm. Travelling to California in search of Brad, Pete, seeking love and adventure, ventures halfway around the world looking for answers only to find them back home once he crosses over The Opal Causeway.

Set in the early 1970s, The Opal Causeway is a coming-of-age novel embracing historical, environmental, racial, social and sexual themes still so relevant today.

"A pleasure to read … so pitch perfect on important social issues. The historical theme of the Gay Liberation movement is neatly told, both in US and in UK."
Alan Mahar, former Publishing Director of Tindal Street Press

Read the reviews

Here's what readers have to say about this book....

Daniel D Payet

It's a sad moment when you come to the end of a novel and have to say goodbye to an engaging set of characters. David Yeats has written a novel (The Opal Causeway) with a cracking plot and characters who stepped off the pages and 'lived' with me for the last few weeks. This opalescent causeway is broader and much more universal than the crossing between Dover and Calais. It takes Pete from swinging London in the sixties to the West Coast of the United States, taking in its stride the burgeoning gay liberation movement of that epoch, race relations and the tenuous threads of human relationships. It is a significant novel for these reasons but I hasten to add that all the above themes were handled with a light touch and with a good dose of good old humour.

Sue Briggs

This is a compelling tale about a group of people and the things that happen to them as they go about their daily lives. The reader follows Pete and his friends and family through times of love and loss, adventure and self-discovery and also through shocking moments when they are confronted by some of the more brutal realities of life in early seventies America. The author is a skilled story-teller and I was drawn in to their world so that I cared what happened to these characters. It is indeed a page turner and I very much hope that there will be a follow up novel.

Julian Fieldhouse

The young Pete is enjoying life during momentous times in early 70's London just as the fledgling Gay Rights movement is challenging old prejudices and change is a foot. Falling for a bold and confident American named Brad he travels to San Francisco to find love and liberation. With Brad's aloofness he seeks excitement and adventure with like minded freedom loving Californians and joins in the fight for rights, leading him to face the brutal oppression of a corrupt police force. The writers attention to detail and time is exquisite with an ever so 70's Pan Am bag playing an unexpected pivotal role as the plot twists on his return to London and he finds the truth behind Brad's distance. His compassion for his beloved Grandparents is touching and the love they instilled in him from his childhood leads him back to find happiness in France across The Opal Causeway. Can't wait for more from this accomplished new writer.

Maurice Greenham

A fascinating coming of age story of Peter a young gay photographer who faces a world at odds with his upbringing. This tension helps drive the narrative forward across continents with serious, unexpected setbacks en route. As well as being a terrific tale of love and betrayal, the book also raises universal issues such as sexuality, racism, the environment and society. Highly recommended good read

Paul Goddard-Patel

This is an astonishing first novel from D H Yeats. It is a page turning tale that moves across London, East Kent, San Francisco and ends up in Paris, and has at its heart a rather messy love story. The characters and places are skilfully drawn and the book has at times an almost visual quality. It would make a great film! As well as being a good tale, the book perfectly captures the zeitgeist of early 1970s London and California. The language, the references to shops, fashion and rock groups perfectly builds the ambiance. Yeats’s book is also a chronicle of both individual and collective gay blossoming as the gay community begins to embrace the new freedoms and rights afforded by changes in the law. It highlights the impact of growing women’s liberation and assertiveness on the day to day lives of women. There are nods to the birth of the environmental movement, which make one realise how little we have moved in fifty years! This is an important and readable novel. You might want to read it.

Other books you might like...

The Book Guild
Criminal Bycatch
by James ‘Leakyboots’ Batty
£9.99
The Book Guild
Dandelion Yellow
by Yvonne Radley
£9.99
The Book Guild
The Three Wives of Charlie Mellon
by Ian Siragher
£9.99
The Book Guild
A More Perfect World
by Rick Goldsmith
£9.99
The Book Guild
Some Other Eden
by Anthony Etherington
£9.99
The Book Guild
Jessica
by Nicholas Hill
£9.99
The Book Guild
Fit For Purpose
by Angela Burdick
£9.99
The Book Guild
Saniya
by Zara M
£9.99
The Book Guild
Kind & Sensible
by John Firth
£8.99
The Book Guild
The Barefoot Child
by Michelle Dixon
£9.99
The Book Guild
The Humble Pawn
by Liz van Santen
£9.99
The Book Guild
Meetings with Mozart
by William Charlton-Perkins
£7.99
The Book Guild
The Makings of Emily Jensen
by Paul A. Mendelson
£9.99
The Book Guild
One In Three
by Mira Harrison
£9.99
The Book Guild
Frankie & Dot
by Rosie Radcliffe
£9.99
The Book Guild
The Mid-life Trials of Annabeth Hope
by Alice May
£9.99
The Book Guild
Busy Being Born
by Laurence Seidler
£9.99
The Book Guild
The Butterfly Hunter
by A.B. Stone
£9.99
The Book Guild
Tell My Son to Make Peace With His Forefathers
by Eleanor Berry
£7.99
The Book Guild
Foul and Fair
by Steve Couch
£9.99
The Book Guild
Nuncle
by Neil J Cook
£8.99
The Book Guild
Subjects
by Gillian Twine
£9.99
The Book Guild
The Rutland Identity
by Michael Dane
£4.99
The Book Guild
The Afterthoughts
by Stephen Reynolds
£8.99