Uncle Jack

by Peter Somerville-Large

Colonel Hilton, aka Uncle Jack, lives in Mount Jewel, the fourth biggest house in Ireland, with his nephew and heir David and a collection of sporadically paid servants. Enraged by the appointment of a lady vicar, he attempts to burn down her bungalow and is put into Silver Meadows, an up-market nursing home. The nursing home is run by the imperious and bossy Mrs Freebody and is filled with ancient and difficult women. He is eventually expelled for bad behaviour and returns to Mount Jewel with his scheming Filipina nurse Maria. A number of shifty characters, including O’Shea the doctor, Crowley the undertaker, Massey who looks after the horses, and Hennessy the lawyer make up part of the cast.
Uncle Jack is an extremely funny, occasionally sad novel about the inevitable advance of old age.

266 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2016

About the author

Peter Somerville-Large was born in Dublin in 1928 and was educated at St Columba’s College and Trinity College Dublin. His first job in Afghanistan was followed by a spell of travel in Asia during the early 1950s. Destinations for his travel books include Ireland, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, and Tibet. He has also written four thrillers, and a number of short stories, including two prize winners. He lives in Co. Carlow with his wife Gillian.