Nonesuch

First published 2026

Cover of Nonesuch

Reception

  1. 2026
    London Review of Books

    Reviewed by Chris Power, 13 August

About the book

Read the full description

It’s the summer of 1939, and the air in London is thick with the tension of impending war. Iris Hawkins, a fiery young financial secretary, has a chance encounter with Geoff, a genius engineer from the new technology of television. What was supposed to be one night of abandon draws her instead into a nightmare of otherworldly pursuit—into a reality where time bends, spirits can be summoned, and history hangs by a thread.

Soon there are Nazi planes droning overhead. In a time when death falls randomly from above each night, when the streets are darker than the wildest forest and all the men are away in uniform, the defense of the city is in the hands of its women. But Iris has more to contend with than just the terrors of the Blitz. Over the rooftops of burning London, in the twisted passages between past and present, through the vast night sky and across the tiny screens of early television, a fascist fanatic is travelling with a gun in her hand, and only Iris can stop her from altering the course of history forever.

Both a thrilling page-turner and a profound exploration of ambition, love, and the fight against tyranny, Nonesuch is a story that is as enchanting as it is urgent. Packed with twists, tension, and wonder, it is a triumph of storytelling.

Description from Hardcover

About the author

Francis Spufford, born 1964.

Catalogue record

Scribner · 496 pages

Publisher
Scribner
Pages
496
ISBN
978-0-571-39716-7 +1
Full recordClose
Publisher
Scribner
Pages
496
ISBNs
  • 978-0-571-39716-7
  • 978-1-6682-1437-4
Author
Spufford, Francis, 1964–
Statement
Nonesuch / Francis Spufford.
Records
Open Library

Subjects

  • 2020s