Blitz, Blake and Belacqua, this is the feel of Nonesuch by Francis Spufford.
Set in the blitz, Iris Hawkins, a young and acutely ambitious woman in the male dominated City, is looking for upward mobility; both across gender and, with her Watford upbringing, across the class gap too. Iris’ desire for more drives the novel, an exploration of a strong female lead within a male dominated finance industry and within the backdrop of the Second World War. She’s one of a new wave of free and more liberated women, for whom the patriarchal constraints are slacking the smallest of amounts. She is poised to take what she needs: very much a strong lead full of independence and adventure.
Our inciting incident is a liaison with BBC television engineer Geoffrey Hale. From that moment, Spufford folds in the ethereal and fantastical; angels in London is very Blake, parallel other worlds and portals is reminiscent of Philip Pullman’s Lyra Belacqua. Iris is tasked with surviving the London Blitz and fascism on home soil which arrives in a time-bending, world-altering variety, and may explain some of the supernatural appearances.
What follows is a fast paced adventure through London to magically stop the forces of evil. The tempo of the story is excellent and it is an engrossing and escapist read.
Spufford conjures up wonderful language in this story and is able to build tension, to fully manipulate the reader with ease. In doing so, Nonesuch is highly readable and should find a wide audience. Whilst there are fantastical elements, the setting is squarely Blitz London and so fantasy/sci-fi sceptics should not worry about elves or goblins. Angels, yes, but these are more in the inperceptible/Dr. Manhattan style of rendering.
There are strong themes on equality and the insidious rise of fascism. Spufford captures the Blitz spirit of ‘making do’ but it is balanced with a reality of night terrors and the fear of the sirens. While it’s made very clear that war is bad, I felt the bigger point made by Spufford is the Churchilian notion of necessary evils to prevent a larger totalitarian regime. So this enters into a life versus liberation argument. It seems we are taught that it was necessary in 1939-45, but was it necessary in 1955-1975, in 2003 and in 2026… Subtle messages to think about in the background while enjoying the adventures at the fore.
Nonesuch was The Bookseller’s book of the month for April where they described it as ‘An ingenious , masterfully realised fantasy adventure like no other…’. Writing in the TLS, Andrew Motion rather more mutedly concludes: ‘…the distinction of his [Spufford’s] book is that it conveys by all manner of means the pleasures of finding the unexpected within the predictable.’
Great and entertaining read, with at least a sequel, Arkady, to follow. If this doesn’t become a BBC mini-series I think we’d all be missing out.
D