Francis Spufford is my find of 2021. This is the first of three books of his that I’ve read this year.
On November 25th 1944 a V2 rocket hit a packed Woolworths store in New Cross Road, South London, killing 168 people. This fabulous novel imagines what might have happened to five 4- and 5-year-olds who were among the victims.
What if the rocket hadn’t landed and they had lived rather than being obliterated in a blinding flash? Spufford answers that question by giving us a series of snapshots of the children’s lives in 1949, 1964, 1979, 1994 and 2009. He could have done that without reference to the bomb and their deaths – they’re imaginary characters after all – but it’s fascinating how having planted that idea in the reader’s head it alters how you respond to the developing story.
This is the sort of book I love – one that’s beautifully written, has characters you’re rooting for, and makes you think.
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