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A review by jeannelovesbooks
Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford
5.0
In 1944, towards the end of WWII a rocket smashed into Woolworth’s in London killing 168 people including several children. The tragedy inspired Francis Spufford to write Light Perpetual, a reimagining of five crushed lives. We’re briefly introduced to the kids via an opening chapter that’s as bold, riveting and devastating as any you’ll ever read.
‘Shoppers, saucepans, ballistic missile. What’s wrong with this picture?’
And then whoosh … normality is restored in an alternative reality: a singing class that introduces us to the five and a sense of the future paths that might have been. Class bully Vernon ‘Vermin’, the poster-boy for Thatcherism; smart-talking defender of the underdog Alec the trade unionist; gentle Ben whose demons chart the developing science of psychiatry; and twins Jo and Val, one a passionate musician and the other, ‘always hanging around the boys’, who’s seduced into a chilling marriage. In 15-year leaps each shines a light on the social, political and economic transformation of 20th century London, their choices and pitfalls rooted in childhood personalities. This isn’t a glimpse into the world of great inventors, artists or leaders. This is a chronicle of folk stumbling through life navigating the complexities, the dramas and the everyday. Did their lives matter? You might as well ask, does any life matter?
Spufford could have tantalised us with the knowledge that four of the five survived, prompting a race through the pages to find out who was the unlucky one . Or perhaps dealt the ultimate blow by revealing their childhood fate in an epilogue. Choosing to start the book with their deaths is a masterstroke. The power of the opening scene was in creating a more meditative experience: whenever I remembered they’d all died, came a secondary reminder that they never existed. A sense of loss upon loss.
There’s a satisfying symmetry to the story. The torture of Miss Turnbull’s 1940s singing class contrasts beautifully to a later scene of reluctant teenagers coaxed into creating a moment of musical magic. Utterly glorious. In fact there are so many standout scenes, the forgettable scenes would make a shorter list. I loved this novel. Loved it.
‘Shoppers, saucepans, ballistic missile. What’s wrong with this picture?’
And then whoosh … normality is restored in an alternative reality: a singing class that introduces us to the five and a sense of the future paths that might have been. Class bully Vernon ‘Vermin’, the poster-boy for Thatcherism; smart-talking defender of the underdog Alec the trade unionist; gentle Ben whose demons chart the developing science of psychiatry; and twins Jo and Val, one a passionate musician and the other, ‘always hanging around the boys’, who’s seduced into a chilling marriage. In 15-year leaps each shines a light on the social, political and economic transformation of 20th century London, their choices and pitfalls rooted in childhood personalities. This isn’t a glimpse into the world of great inventors, artists or leaders. This is a chronicle of folk stumbling through life navigating the complexities, the dramas and the everyday. Did their lives matter? You might as well ask, does any life matter?
Spufford could have tantalised us with the knowledge that four of the five survived, prompting a race through the pages to find out who was the unlucky one . Or perhaps dealt the ultimate blow by revealing their childhood fate in an epilogue. Choosing to start the book with their deaths is a masterstroke. The power of the opening scene was in creating a more meditative experience: whenever I remembered they’d all died, came a secondary reminder that they never existed. A sense of loss upon loss.
There’s a satisfying symmetry to the story. The torture of Miss Turnbull’s 1940s singing class contrasts beautifully to a later scene of reluctant teenagers coaxed into creating a moment of musical magic. Utterly glorious. In fact there are so many standout scenes, the forgettable scenes would make a shorter list. I loved this novel. Loved it.