Of Bygone Days

De: Cade Jay Hathaway

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

In Of Bygone Days, the seventh and final novel in the Rian & Mouse seafaring series, it is 1859 when Chumley Preston's periodical, the Weekly Standard publishes a news article about life at sea. The incredible adventures experienced by Adrian Pembroke and Richard Jay is duly reported by journalist, Julius Lightbody. But the fledgling writer learns more than he ever expected as the tale unfolds and he is faced with a decision that will break all Victorian social conventions. It is revealed to him that his subjects have lived an extremely happy and fulfilling life together as homosexuals in a time when it is against "all law and decency to conduct such despicable activities against nature, God almighty, and the Crown..."

Will the honest truth destroy all that Rian and Mouse have built and believe in? Or will their example lead to the first steps towards change in a world that has always despised and condemned those who would dare to live a life free of societal expectations?

Join our friends on what is their most important voyage ever as we bid them joy Of Bygone Days.

And now, the time has come; the stories of Rian and Mouse, bless those two lovely souls, arrive at their conclusion. Sure, one supposes that the books could continue, there never being enough pages to run out of adventures, voyages, and new days with our intrepid pair. But that is not how life is; the very thing that makes life indeed precious is that it is a finite pursuit. Each of us is given a set number of days with which to do our best; hopefully, we appreciate the time that we have been gifted to the very fullest extent. Such as it is with our two dear sailor friends.

As this seventh and final chapter, Of Bygone Days, reveals, all comes to a close as well it should. But let us not forget the many wonderful, unique, and interesting souls that have crossed Rian and Mouse’s path over the course of their lives; could any single one or a number of them have tales worth telling that perhaps are as interesting and as life affirming as those our sailor heroes have lived? Maybe there are more stories remaining in the world of Rian and Mouse, but from different sets of eyes and points of view. Again, time will tell.

A particularly difficult time for all homosexuals was during the supposedly forward-thinking 19th century. The Industrial Revolution was at hand; the end of the Napoleonic wars and emerging European unity; and then the coming new age of the Victorian era of that much-admired world power, Great Britain should have been a renaissance period for those continually oppressed by antiquated social norms. Yet some of the worst examples of anti-homosexual bias and cruelty occurred during the time in which our stories are set.

Writes author, Cade Jay Hathaway as the Rian & Mouse stories draw to a close: "Thank you for reading these novels, and for loving the fellows as much as I do. It has been my distinct honor to introduce you to Rian and Mouse over these past years; and now, to revel and reminisce with them Of Bygone Days."