The Open Arms of the Sea edition by Jasper Dorgan Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : The Open Arms of the Sea edition by Jasper Dorgan Literature Fiction eBooks 
A story of forbidden love in a forgotten war. It is 1965 and Leslie Deacon has escaped to the Army to lose himself in the war-ravaged Aden deserts. But under the scorch of the Yemeni sun there is no hiding from death, or love, or himself.
The Open Arms of the Sea edition by Jasper Dorgan Literature Fiction eBooks
The time: mid-1960s.The place: Aden (now Yemen).
The context: a small British war which I’d not heard of before! Wikipedia (I know, I know…) outlines the Aden Emergency as “…an insurgency against the British Crown forces in the British controlled territories of South Arabia which now form part of the Yemen. [Beginning] on 10 December 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British officials at Aden Airport …the emergency escalated in 1967 and hastened the end of British rule in the territory which had begun in 1839. On 30 November 1967, British forces withdrew and the independent People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed.”
The hero/protagonist: Lt ‘Harry’ Deacon stoically tries to keep morale up for his band of men, whether guarding checkpoints, unloading supplies, patrolling city streets or taking part in covert military action. Deacon has run away from scandal back in UK by joining the armed forces. The army, his men, his superiors and his duty to crown and country has become his entire world – and it has become a confining, lonely existence for him indeed.
Deacon is constantly put into his place by bully-boy superiors who never let him forget his Croydon sociological roots and his lack of higher education. Local population insurgents (the Adoo) have taken their battle for independence into the British troop barely-controlled city precincts and Deacon tries hard not to let the daily mortar bombings, grenade attacks grind him down. The ‘enemy’ has become harder to spot amongst the civilian population and danger lurks everywhere. The author does an incredible job with providing the war atmosphere and for giving amazing scenic descriptions of local places, buildings, businesses, watering holes etc.
The secondary characters: Two characters are introduced into Deacon’s regimented and stark world – lovely Clemmie Ross (brigadier’s daughter) and dashing dare-devil Captain Villiers (who possess charm, physical allure and charismatic magnetism by the bucketload). Deacon is attracted to both in different ways and their friendship, influence and relational demands crack open Deacon’s tightly controlled emotional prison and thrusts him onto a social and career pathway from which he will not be able to return. Will his trust and friendship be betrayed? Can he trust anyone with his darkest secrets from his former life – remember this is the British armed forces in the mid-1960’s (around the same time setting as Elliott Mackle's Captain Joe Harding books).
Aiding Deacon in his troop management, Corporal David Lockett is Deacon’s resourceful, ebullient, long-suffering and terminally cheerful aide-de-camp. I LOVE Lockett’s character – he ranks as my current favorite character for my 2014 readings. Lockett’s quips, insights, army grape-vine gossip, witty asides, know-how for social graces and fashion tips … all add much needed levity, humour and serve as foil against the increasingly darker backdrop of mounting violence and senseless killings.
The author does not pull back from the brutality of war – torture, revenge killings and retaliations, disregard for civilian casualties. Deacon becomes increasingly unsettled by the British Army’s methods for ‘keeping the peace’, and especially once he’s been recruited to join an ‘elite’ strike-force group within the regular army troops for ‘guerrilla warfare’. Will his sense of personal integrity and human decency survive all that he’s required to do and to turn a blind eye toward?
For those who love the Captain Harding books or Marquesate & Vashtan’s magnificent Afghanistan war-romance saga – this book will suit you down to a tee. A suitably thrilling sequence of dangerous events lead toward an explosive and totally unexpected ending (one which can be interpreted differently by individual readers). Not everyone will be pleased but I found it courageous, inspiring and satisfying, and would very much love a sequel (like many other fans of the book). I’m still thinking about Deacon and Lockett and Clemmie and Chi a day after finishing the book. Bravo to Dorgan for a superb book which captured my attention and imagination.
Oh and the title comes from the lyrics of the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody – one of my more favourite tunes!
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The Open Arms of the Sea edition by Jasper Dorgan Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
You can't call this a romance. And yet, romantically, I found it very satisfying. The ending can't be called HEA, and yet I thought it the perfect ending and happily hopeful. There's no sex; I don't think it was needed,because where romance comes in, this story was much more about love than sex. The main character was a true working-class hero. He's a British Lieutenant/squadron leader in Aden, and I have never appreciated what it was, the utter waste and stupidity, not to mention thoughtless cruelty of war before reading this book. I've known it depicted lots of times, but for some reason this is the story that brought it home to me. DO NOT let the subject matter deter you from reading this book. Our fine hero generally finds a way to insert something positive or saving into a ridiculous, seemingly hopeless situation. He is sexy, secretly gay and powerfully lonely.
But he has his corporal. Not a lover, a faithful friend, cohort and support. Also, very sexy and funny.
Let me tell you; this writer has dry, no laugh-track humor down.
A TERRIFIC read.
And if you're hoping for the MC to finally find a love of his own and worthy of him, I think you'll be very pleased.
Wow. Sublime. I think this is tattooed on my brain. Or my heart.
What a beautiful book. Not a romance, but achingly romantic.
Gorgeous writing completely in service to the story.
The evocation of time and place feels utterly real and so vivid. I had no idea that pukka sahib thing was still alive so late in the British Empire. And I feel like I just spent six weeks in Southern Arabia.
I can only compare this to Mary Renault's The Charioteer and Adam Fitzroy's Make Do and Mend. Or Elliott Mackle's Captain Harding books. But those are truly romances and this probably belongs with the great books about war and soldiering that I haven't read. At the same time it evokes very specifically the experience of being gay in the sixties, the yearning and hiding and lying to save your skin.
Bravo, Mr. Dorgan. Hoping for much more from your pen.
The time mid-1960s.
The place Aden (now Yemen).
The context a small British war which I’d not heard of before! Wikipedia (I know, I know…) outlines the Aden Emergency as “…an insurgency against the British Crown forces in the British controlled territories of South Arabia which now form part of the Yemen. [Beginning] on 10 December 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British officials at Aden Airport …the emergency escalated in 1967 and hastened the end of British rule in the territory which had begun in 1839. On 30 November 1967, British forces withdrew and the independent People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed.”
The hero/protagonist Lt ‘Harry’ Deacon stoically tries to keep morale up for his band of men, whether guarding checkpoints, unloading supplies, patrolling city streets or taking part in covert military action. Deacon has run away from scandal back in UK by joining the armed forces. The army, his men, his superiors and his duty to crown and country has become his entire world – and it has become a confining, lonely existence for him indeed.
Deacon is constantly put into his place by bully-boy superiors who never let him forget his Croydon sociological roots and his lack of higher education. Local population insurgents (the Adoo) have taken their battle for independence into the British troop barely-controlled city precincts and Deacon tries hard not to let the daily mortar bombings, grenade attacks grind him down. The ‘enemy’ has become harder to spot amongst the civilian population and danger lurks everywhere. The author does an incredible job with providing the war atmosphere and for giving amazing scenic descriptions of local places, buildings, businesses, watering holes etc.
The secondary characters Two characters are introduced into Deacon’s regimented and stark world – lovely Clemmie Ross (brigadier’s daughter) and dashing dare-devil Captain Villiers (who possess charm, physical allure and charismatic magnetism by the bucketload). Deacon is attracted to both in different ways and their friendship, influence and relational demands crack open Deacon’s tightly controlled emotional prison and thrusts him onto a social and career pathway from which he will not be able to return. Will his trust and friendship be betrayed? Can he trust anyone with his darkest secrets from his former life – remember this is the British armed forces in the mid-1960’s (around the same time setting as Elliott Mackle's Captain Joe Harding books).
Aiding Deacon in his troop management, Corporal David Lockett is Deacon’s resourceful, ebullient, long-suffering and terminally cheerful aide-de-camp. I LOVE Lockett’s character – he ranks as my current favorite character for my 2014 readings. Lockett’s quips, insights, army grape-vine gossip, witty asides, know-how for social graces and fashion tips … all add much needed levity, humour and serve as foil against the increasingly darker backdrop of mounting violence and senseless killings.
The author does not pull back from the brutality of war – torture, revenge killings and retaliations, disregard for civilian casualties. Deacon becomes increasingly unsettled by the British Army’s methods for ‘keeping the peace’, and especially once he’s been recruited to join an ‘elite’ strike-force group within the regular army troops for ‘guerrilla warfare’. Will his sense of personal integrity and human decency survive all that he’s required to do and to turn a blind eye toward?
For those who love the Captain Harding books or Marquesate & Vashtan’s magnificent Afghanistan war-romance saga – this book will suit you down to a tee. A suitably thrilling sequence of dangerous events lead toward an explosive and totally unexpected ending (one which can be interpreted differently by individual readers). Not everyone will be pleased but I found it courageous, inspiring and satisfying, and would very much love a sequel (like many other fans of the book). I’m still thinking about Deacon and Lockett and Clemmie and Chi a day after finishing the book. Bravo to Dorgan for a superb book which captured my attention and imagination.
Oh and the title comes from the lyrics of the Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody – one of my more favourite tunes!
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