'Dazzling.' The Times

'Exceptional.' Guardian

'Brilliant.' Observer

'Extraordinary.' Financial Times

'A miracle.' Wall Street Journal



*Winner of the RSL Encore Award*

*Longlisted for the Booker Prize*





November 1944. A German rocket strikes London, and five young lives are atomised in an instant.



November 1944. That rocket never lands. A single second in time is altered, and five young lives go on - to experience all the unimaginable changes of the twentieth century.





Because maybe there are always other futures. Other chances.





From the best-selling, prize-winning author of Golden Hill, Light Perpetual is a story of the everyday, the miraculous and the everlasting. Ingenious and profound, full of warmth and beauty, it is a sweeping and intimate celebration of the gift of life.



Francis Spufford is the author of three novels and five highly-praised works of non-fiction . His debut work of fiction was the historical novel Golden Hill, which won the Costa First Novel Award, the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize. His second novel, Light Perpetual, was awarded the Encore Award and longlisted for the Booker Prize. His third novel, the alternative history Cahokia Jazz, was awarded the Sidewise Award in 2023. He teaches writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and lives in Essex.