No Precedent
by John Uttley
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There wasn’t a lightning strike at the church in Evesham where the funeral took place, which Bob regards as sufficient evidence that his theology is sound.’ The northern grammar school pals Bob Swarbrick and Richard Shackleton are back, now facing the era of Brexit, Momentum and Donald Trump. The trials and renewals of Where’s Sailor Jack? behind them, they find themselves in a world whose faith and politics have moved beyond their sphere of influence and feel increasingly cut off from their roots. Bob, now settled with Wendy, must reconcile old memories and new children while Richard must save his family from themselves. Along the way, they are adopted by the lascivious Lucy Fishwick and her predatory daughter Maddie, whose lives are as mad and chaotic as the radio play Lucy is trying to write and, indeed, the world itself. But despite the coming plague, it doesn’t look like Armageddon. There is to be an apocalypse, but one of personal dimensions. We don’t all go together when we go!
“A wonderful, standalone story that can also be enjoyed as
a follow-up to John Uttley’s first novel, Where’s Sailor
Jack? this time told by Bob and Wendy themselves. I laughed, I cried, I considered moving
north. Poignant, funny, thoughtful and raw, No Precedent gives voice to the babel that is
modern culture, as experienced by a group of very different families who all nonetheless love
each other to pieces.” – Stephen Carver, Author & Critic
The northern grammar school pals Bob Swarbrick and Richard Shackleton are back, now facing
the era of Brexit, Momentum, Coronavirus and Donald Trump. For the first time in their lives,
Bob and Richard struggle to see the meaning of it all.
The trials and renewals of Where’s Sailor Jack? (John Uttley’s debut novel released in 2015)
behind them, they find themselves in a world whose faith and politics have moved beyond their
sphere of influence and feel increasingly cut off from their roots.
Bob, now settled with Wendy, must reconcile old memories and new children while Richard
must save his family from themselves. Along the way, they are adopted by the lascivious Lucy
Fishwick and her predatory daughter Maddie, whose lives are as mad and chaotic as the radio
play Lucy is trying to write and, indeed, the world itself.
But despite the coming plague, it doesn’t look like Armageddon. There is to be an apocalypse,
but one of personal dimensions. We don’t all go together when we go!
No Precedent gives some clue as to why Brexit happened and why the red wall fell, not that
either protagonist wanted the former, nor would have wanted the latter if Harold Wilson were
still prime minister. John Uttley knows the towns of the north, the county boroughs as he still
calls them, and writes with nostalgia and reflexion on times gone by and times yet to come.
