A review by softstarrynights
Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford

3.0

Longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, Light Perpetual takes the factual V-2 bombing of a London Woolworths in 1944 and imagines a revisionist history where it never happened. Francis Spufford follows four fictional children who survived this non-attack, through their lives from 1944 to 2009. What is interesting about Spufford's take on this is that none of the children go on to change the world, at least not in grand ways, in fact, they all live relatively normal lives. That's not to say that this book is without drama, because there is plenty of that, but their lives feel realistic. All of the character's stories are compelling in their own ways as they navigate the lives that they almost did not live. However, after the initial chapter in which we see the bombing itself before history is revised, it is very easy to forget about the point that Spufford is trying to make. If you were to remove that first chapter then it would simply be a good historical fiction book. I think there were a lot of opportunities for the author to say something more about life, fate, and the lives we could have, should have, or never got to live. In that sense, the book did lack a little, but overall it was a good book with decent writing.