Mare nostrum

The story opens in a quiet Valencia parish where the young Ulises Ferragut drifts through the dim rituals of Sunday Mass, his imagination tugged toward the restless sea beyond the stone walls. Born to the respectable notary Don Esteban, Ulises lives amid the stale grandeur of churches that hide medieval vaults beneath baroque plaster, a setting that fuels his father's nostalgic longing for a bygone age while sparking the boy’s own restless curiosity.

Against this backdrop of solemn ceremony, the novel follows Ulises as he wrestles with the contrast between inherited duty and a yearning for wider horizons. He meets figures whose names echo myth—Mater Anfitrita, Pater Oceanus, and the enigmatic Freya—each hinting at a world of voyages, intrigue, and the pull of the Mediterranean. In the first act, Ulises’ small rebellions and day‑dreams set the stage for a journey that will test his loyalty, ambition, and the very meaning of heroism.