Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by athomeinmylibrary
Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford
4.0
Light Perpetual begins with the bombing of Woolworths in 1944 killing, amongst many others, five young children in an instant. One second in time is changed and the bomb never happened, Alex, Jo, Val, Ben and Vern grow up and experience all the changes and challenges of the rest of the twentieth century.
I really enjoyed this book right from the beginning, it is a clever observation of five normal lives and I liked how the author entwined these characters into a variety of different events and eras as they moved through the years. Ultimately, none of these children grow up to have lived extraordinary lives, but as each constantly navigates their way over personal hurdles (relationships, mental health, financial struggles, unemployment, parenthood, drug abuse, violence) and their characters evolved throughout the book, they were almost unrecognisable from the children they had once been. It is a brilliant portrayal of the ordinary human life, full of hope and courage that no matter what life throws at us, we will be ok.
I really enjoyed this book right from the beginning, it is a clever observation of five normal lives and I liked how the author entwined these characters into a variety of different events and eras as they moved through the years. Ultimately, none of these children grow up to have lived extraordinary lives, but as each constantly navigates their way over personal hurdles (relationships, mental health, financial struggles, unemployment, parenthood, drug abuse, violence) and their characters evolved throughout the book, they were almost unrecognisable from the children they had once been. It is a brilliant portrayal of the ordinary human life, full of hope and courage that no matter what life throws at us, we will be ok.