Great Britain - The virus and the Kingdom, Father Johnson's prophetic novel re-emerges

At the center of the plot is a mysterious and lethal virus, quite similar to the one that a few decades later risked killing Boris, his most famous son: he comes to light almost like a prophecy (or a warning) in the form of a literary work a novel written back in 1982 by Stanley Johnson, father of His Majesty's current prime minister and author - 38 years ago - of a themed thriller, The Marburg Virus, set between Germany, the United States and Africa. A spy-story hit and run from twisted political implications, in the midst of a pandemic, between suspected laboratory manipulations and the desperate race to develop a vaccine. All elements that anticipated the news of these months. And that prompted Johnson senior, through his agent, to ask for their timely reprint even at the cost of attracting the accusation of exploiting the current health emergency for self-promotion. "It is like asking journalists not to write about coronavirus. I am a writer and I predicted everything 40 years ago, pray for a happy ending", he justified himself, very active on the threshold of 80 years: crediting the premonitory intuition contained in a novel - not exactly a narrative masterpiece according to critics - meanwhile ended up in the back burner of genre literature.
    Moreover, Stanley shares many passions with his son Premier: from politics to writing by women to the eccentric taste of surprising, always and in any case. Both members of the Conservative Party (dad Johnson was an MEP), both divorced and parents of 6 children, both very blond and histress if necessary. Boris more versed in classical and historical studies, Stanley an alternate success novelist.
    His last literary effort, which dates back to three years ago, is called Kompromat, a sort of satirical spy story on Brexit. A story that has seen the two Johnson - united on the front of family affections - resolutely lined up on opposite barricades: the father, staunch defender of the bond with the EU, the chief flag-son of Euroscepticism.