Except the Lord (New Directions Paperbook)

Except the Lord is the second novel in the second trilogy, or triptych to use Cary's preferred term. In his own words: 'In this second book we see where (Nimmo's) ideals took form. We are given his childhood as a poor boy, son of a horseman on a farm ... Left-wing ideas are truly called radical. They have very deep roots in Protestant religion. The book, therefore, is not about politics, it is about a child's reaction to poverty and social injustice, and the effect upon that reaction of a religious education. That is, it is a study of character, and so of that region of feeling and idea in which politics have their beginning and achieve their ends.' The literary critic, Walter Allen, wrote in his Reader's report for the original publisher, Michael Joseph, that 'within the limits' Cary had set himself, Except the Lord was 'completely successful and a very fine novel with several memorable characters of a dignity moving because of the austerity with which they are presented.' Except the Lord recounts in autobiographical form the early life of Chester Nimmo (based on Lloyd George) who became a great Radical leader in Edwardian days.