Light Perpetual

Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford—Bexford, England, November 1944, meet Jo, Val, Alec, Ben & Vern, all young, but only briefly—they don’t survive the first chapter, as a German rocket ‘atomises’ their lives. Chapter two, England, November 1964, meet Jo, Val, Alec, Ben & Vern as their lives continue in the light perpetual. Spufford’s dazzling sleight of hand conjures a future with ‘other chances’ and, despite our sense of an ending, brilliantly skews our expectations. I’m spellbound and, as we follow the same characters at varying intervals, I don’t want to leave Val, in 1964, with her observation of middle-aged men at the seaside ‘waiting for there to be some scandalous disorder, so they can cheer on order’s restoration.’ Published in March, by Faber & Faber— if you can, I think you should.