You “cannot second-guess” Francis Spufford, said Kate Kellaway in The Observer. After making his name as an “elegant writer of non-fiction”, in his early 50s he published his first novel, Golden Hill – a work of “exuberant virtuosity” about an English chancer in 18th century Manhattan. Five years later, he has produced another “brilliant” work of fiction – and one that, if anything, is “even bolder”.
Light Perpetual begins in November 1944, with a V2 bomb falling on a south London branch of Woolworths, said Claire Allfree in the London Evening Standard. This event was real – it killed 168 people – but in a “glorious act of literary resurrection”, Spufford imagines five of the child victims surviving and going on to lead full lives. Over 65 years, he tracks his “chosen five” – Alec, Jo, Vernon, Ben and Valerie – at 15-year intervals, “dropping in on them at home, at work, with lovers and with children”.
None of Spufford’s characters prove to be exceptional, said Lucasta Miller in The Spectator. Instead, they’re “transfigured by their very ordinariness”. One becomes a typesetter at The Times; another tries to make it big as a folk singer, but is held back by her lack of confidence.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Perhaps most moving of all is the story of Ben, whom we first see “hoisted on to his father’s shoulders at a Millwall game”, and whom we next meet “in a psychiatric hospital, dosed up on Largactil”, said Alex Preston in the Financial Times. As he slowly recovers, “the reader cheers him all the way”. In “beautifully accurate”, unshowy prose, Spufford wrings extraordinary “emotion and drama” from the everyday experiences of his protagonists.
Faber & Faber 336pp £16.99; The Week bookshop £13.99
The Week bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
Friendship: 'bromance' comedy starring Paul Rudd and Tim RobinsonThe Week Recommends 'Lampooning and embracing' middle-aged male loneliness, this film is 'enjoyable and funny'
-
The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptationThe Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
-
Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
-
Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
-
Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff GoldblumThe Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
-
Blink Twice review: a 'stylish and savage' black comedy thrillerThe Week Recommends Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie stun in this film on the hedonistic rich directed by Zoë Kravitz
-
Shifters review: 'beautiful' new romantic comedy offers 'bittersweet tenderness'The Week Recommends The 'inventive, emotionally astute writing' leaves audiences gripped throughout
-
How to do F1: British Grand Prix 2025The Week Recommends One of the biggest events of the motorsports calendar is back and better than ever
