Francis Spufford
Nonesuch by Francis Spufford, set in London during the Blitz, blends magical realism with historical fiction.
The central figure is Iris Hawkins, a financial secretary with ambitions to transcend her class and a range of socially-constructed gender barriers. Iris gets sucked into a macabre plot to assassinate Winston Churchill with the goal of altering the course of history. The bizarre plot involves time travel, crossing boundaries in which time and space are warped, deciphering cryptic manuscripts, and releasing supernatural beings trapped in London’s statues. The plot, hatched by a fascist group harboring sympathies with Hitler, is led by Lady Cunningham (Lall). With the help and support of her love interest, Geoffrey, Iris finds herself in the unlikely position of being the only individual able to thwart the plot.
Against the background of London during the Blitz, Iris climbs rooftops, leaps on to statues, dodges entities/angels trying to capture her, and gingerly walks in a topsy turvy terrain where one misstep can lead to death.
The writing is densely packed, especially when Iris enters the fantasy realm. The magical/fantastical elements are hard to follow and feel overworked, making it confusing to keep track of what is happening. The characters are not particularly engaging or compelling. But where the novel shines is in its depiction of London during the Blitz. Spufford reconstructs London with the sounds, sights, and smells of relentless bombing, destruction, food shortages, and an exhausted population in immersive detail. The cliffhanger ending with its “To be continued” is disappointing.