Cover of Light Perpetual
Read Time: ~5.6 hr

Light Perpetual

by Francis Spufford (2021)

About this book

A novel set in 1944 London imagines the lives of five children who perished during a bombing at a local store, tracing their everyday dramas as they live through the extraordinary, unimaginable changes of twentieth-century London. 1944: A crowd gathers at the Woolworths on Bexford High Street in southeast London. An instant later, the crowd is gone; incinerated. Among the shoppers were five young children. In an alternative reel of time, the life arcs of these five souls are followed through the extraordinary, unimaginable changes of the bustling immensity of twentieth-century London. Through decades of social, sexual, and technological transformation, as bus conductors and landlords, as swindlers and teachers, patients and inmates, we witness their disasters, second chances, and redemption. -- adapted from jacket.

Setting / LocationGlobal
Story EraContemporary
Protagonist / CoreNotable Characters

Readers who enjoyed this also loved

Cover of The Fortune Men

The Fortune Men

Nadifa Mohamed

"Based on a true event, The Fortune Men tells the intimate, harrowing story of the last man in Britain to be sentenced to death. In Cardiff, Wales in 1952, Mahmood Mattan, a young Somali sailor, is accused of a crime he did not commit: the brutal killing of Violet Volacki, a shopkeeper from Tiger Bay. At first, Mahmood believes he can ignore the fingers pointing his way; he may be a gambler and a petty thief, but he is no murderer. He is a father of three, secure in his innocence and his belief in British justice. But as the trial draws closer, his prospect for freedom dwindles. Now, Mahmood must stage a terrifying fight for his life, with all the chips stacked against him: a shoddy investigation, an inhumane legal system, and, most evidently, pervasive and deep-rooted racism at every step. Under the shadow of the hangman's noose, Mahmood begins to realize that even the truth may not be enough to save him. A haunting tale of miscarried justice, this book offers a chilling look at the dark corners of our humanity." --

Cover of A Town Called Solace

A Town Called Solace

Mary Lawson

A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson is an acclaimed literary masterpiece celebrating major critical honors and timeless storytelling.

Cover of Klara and the Sun

Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro

"Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love? In its award citation in 2017, the Nobel committee described Ishiguro's books as "novels of great emotional force" and said he has "uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.""

Cover of Gertrude and Claudius

Gertrude and Claudius

John Updike

Gertrude and Claudius is a celebrated work by John Updike (Double Pulitzer Prize Winner, National Book Award Winner), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.

Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford | Literally Just Books