In a stifled and oppressed United Kingdom, nothing can be achieved without the approval of the dictatorial Sponsors, at whose head is the malevolent and cruel Lord William St Benedict. In Britain's cities the Sponsored live narrow, if privileged, lives, while the Unsponsored are confined to menial roles and to the 'less desirable' districts. Among the Sponsors' many victims is Lord William's own son, the forthright and charismatic Theodore – 'Dory' – held captive by his father since he was a boy.

In the unassuming town of Applethwaite, in the depths of the Cumbrian countryside, however, an unlikely revolution is brewing. Albino gymnast Louis Trevelyan and his motley group of friends are fiercely proud of their Unsponsored status and gradually forge a plan not only to liberate the beleaguered Theodore but the whole of the United Kingdom.

Alison Jack has turned her attention to writing after a long career in book publishing and distribution. She is a keen Wakeboarder, a supporter of Cambridge United and lives in Fen Ditton in Cambridgeshire.