Nonesuch: 'What a joy! A novel with endless ingenuity and enormous heart.' Kaliane Bradley
Feb 2026 · Faber & Faber
Ebook
480
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infoThis book will become available on February 24, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
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'What a joy! A novel with endless ingenuity and enormous heart.' Kaliane Bradley
'One of the finest prose stylists of his generation.' The Times
'My God can he write.' Richard Osman
It's the summer of 1939. London is on the brink of catastrophic war. Iris Hawkins, an ambitious young woman in the stuffy world of City finance, has a chance encounter with Geoff, a technical whizz at the BBC's nascent television unit.
What was supposed to be one night of abandon draws her instead into an adventure of otherworldly pursuit - into a reality where time bends, spirits can be summoned, and history hangs by a thread. Soon there are Nazi planes overhead. But Iris has more to contend with than the terrors of the Blitz. Over the rooftops of burning London, in the twisted passages between past and present, a fascist fanatic is travelling with a gun in her hand.
And only Iris can stop her from altering the course of history forever.
'What a joy! A novel with endless ingenuity and enormous heart.' Kaliane Bradley
'One of the finest prose stylists of his generation.' The Times
'My God can he write.' Richard Osman
It's the summer of 1939. London is on the brink of catastrophic war. Iris Hawkins, an ambitious young woman in the stuffy world of City finance, has a chance encounter with Geoff, a technical whizz at the BBC's nascent television unit.
What was supposed to be one night of abandon draws her instead into an adventure of otherworldly pursuit - into a reality where time bends, spirits can be summoned, and history hangs by a thread. Soon there are Nazi planes overhead. But Iris has more to contend with than the terrors of the Blitz. Over the rooftops of burning London, in the twisted passages between past and present, a fascist fanatic is travelling with a gun in her hand.
And only Iris can stop her from altering the course of history forever.
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About the author
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.
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