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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the first third or so of Light Perpetual, and was startled by the explosive beginning. The first few chapters had such a strong sense of time and place. I keep remembering things from my childhood while reading, feeling equally nostalgic and weirded out about certain things (yellow vanilla ice cream!) and also equally horrified and relieved about our progress concerning women’s rights, parenting, teaching, etc. There was some beautiful writing and fascinating glimpses into the lives of “ordinary people” as time passes. But ultimately I began to feel less and less invested into most of the characters, and I was just rushing toward the last half of the book to finish it. A book with so much potential, but it disappointed me in the end.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2021 Booker Prize longlisted book. Such mixed feelings about this book. The author's note explains how he walks past a plaque dedicated to those who died on the site when a V2 bomb exploded on a Woolworths store in London, and how that event inspired this novel which pays tribute to those lost. Spufford takes five children from the many people who lost their lives in this event and invents a future for each inviting the reader to check in with them, more or less seperately, at periods of 5-15 years.
The opening chapters were interesting and I admired the experimental nature of the writing and how it captured the moment of the bomb, its trajectory and its impact, but it was all down hill from there for me. I had no connection with these five characters, who individually and collectively lead ordinary, difficult, or verging on criminal lives. These could have been any five people off the street who had their lives explored in snippets across decades and perhaps that was the point, that these children, had they survived would have led ordinary live, but they were lives not connected to the events of the war so purposely described, there is no sliding doors moment here. I read on thinking this will go somewhere. What I did get was an interesting picture of the changes in British/London society across the second half of the twentieth century. This was a miss for me but I give credit for the first chapters and for the writing, which was not bad, it was the slow, almost pointless plot, and the missed opportunity, at least from the blurb, which I struggled with.
The opening chapters were interesting and I admired the experimental nature of the writing and how it captured the moment of the bomb, its trajectory and its impact, but it was all down hill from there for me. I had no connection with these five characters, who individually and collectively lead ordinary, difficult, or verging on criminal lives. These could have been any five people off the street who had their lives explored in snippets across decades and perhaps that was the point, that these children, had they survived would have led ordinary live, but they were lives not connected to the events of the war so purposely described, there is no sliding doors moment here. I read on thinking this will go somewhere. What I did get was an interesting picture of the changes in British/London society across the second half of the twentieth century. This was a miss for me but I give credit for the first chapters and for the writing, which was not bad, it was the slow, almost pointless plot, and the missed opportunity, at least from the blurb, which I struggled with.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really struggled to get through this and kept debating putting it down. As a big fan of multi-perspective fiction, I stuck it out for the plot lines to fully intersect. while the decision for the characters to largely stay independent was likely artful, it left me, the reader frustrated. As a result, I felt the novel lacked plot and the characterization was too thin. I would have enjoyed a fiction of the life of just one of the characters, but the way this was presented did not justify multiple points of view to me.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you @simon.audio for the gifted copy of this audiobook!
It’s 1944. Shoppers are jammed in a crowded store on a busy Saturday when a German bomb falls, killing everyone including five children. But the children’s stories don’t end there. In author Francis Spufford’s new novel, he imagines what their lives might have been if the bomb never fell.
Spufford shows restraint in the alternative timeline of his main characters’ lives. They don’t grow up to be rich and famous or change the course of history. They live ordinary lives full of ordinary trials, tribulations, and triumphs- job changes, falling in love, mental health issues, toxic relationships, surly teenage children, good life choices, and bad. Ordinary people who would have lived ordinary lives had a bomb not fallen on them.
Narrator Imogen Church brings the story to life in the audiobook. Her narration is spot on. In one particular chapter, Ben, who has schizophrenia, has a mental health crisis as he struggles to ignore the voice in his head. Church’s narration is both heartbreaking and frightening as he works to stay in the moment and not allow his fear to spiral out of control.
This is a story of what could have been- the everyday joy, sorrow, hope, love, fear, challenges, grace, and second chances. This is a good choice for readers who enjoy character driven novels or who like historical fiction. Light Perpetual is available now.
It’s 1944. Shoppers are jammed in a crowded store on a busy Saturday when a German bomb falls, killing everyone including five children. But the children’s stories don’t end there. In author Francis Spufford’s new novel, he imagines what their lives might have been if the bomb never fell.
Spufford shows restraint in the alternative timeline of his main characters’ lives. They don’t grow up to be rich and famous or change the course of history. They live ordinary lives full of ordinary trials, tribulations, and triumphs- job changes, falling in love, mental health issues, toxic relationships, surly teenage children, good life choices, and bad. Ordinary people who would have lived ordinary lives had a bomb not fallen on them.
Narrator Imogen Church brings the story to life in the audiobook. Her narration is spot on. In one particular chapter, Ben, who has schizophrenia, has a mental health crisis as he struggles to ignore the voice in his head. Church’s narration is both heartbreaking and frightening as he works to stay in the moment and not allow his fear to spiral out of control.
This is a story of what could have been- the everyday joy, sorrow, hope, love, fear, challenges, grace, and second chances. This is a good choice for readers who enjoy character driven novels or who like historical fiction. Light Perpetual is available now.