NONESUCH by Francis Spufford

4 stars

Spufford brings his strong non-fiction background and blends it with fantasy to bring alive London before and during World War I in this historical fiction. He does his best capturing the detailed intimacy of London’s citizenry from defiance of Hitler to a city devastated by nightly bombings. He captures people’s bravery – from holding onto small pockets of joy to braving rooftops to put out incendiary flames that could destroy the building. He makes the bomb shelters come alive as everyone hides from backyard dug outs to urine-smelling underground stations to luxury under the Ritz Hotel. Rationing increasingly limits food, where relationships with vendors such as butchers and grocers meant more than cash. He also traces the rising arc of Churchill’s political career, to his ascendency to Prime Minister as holding a firm anti-Hitler position.

Layered on top of this is a fantasy world interwoven in 1930’s London, where “lower world angels” can be entrapped by practitioners of dark magic and the occult. One such group in London, calling themselves The Order, have enslaved an angel, and uses it as a monstrous avenging force when needed. The Order, having been run by men, has fallen apart and a young, reckless socialite Lall has grabbed for power. She’s the daughter of a strong pro-Nazi and wants to further the fascists agenda by going back in time to kill Churchill and enable Britain to fall in Nazi hands. To do so, she must go to the center of the magical world, known as Nonesuch, which can only be reached via a series of bridges powered by lower angels trapped in statues throughout London’s rooftop.

The story’s heroine, Iris, is a smart and ambitious bank secretary who’s deeply frustrated by the misogynist times in which men dominate in careers and women settle for background clerical positions. Iris wants to be a banker herself, follows the market carefully, reads all the leading economists and tries to figure out how to profit in a post-War market. Her financial focus and ambition bring a unique historical angle to war times.

Along the way, she seduces a young TV tech wizard, Geoff, who up until then had been pining after Lall. In revenge, Lall sends The Order’s entrapped angel in monster form to attack Iris. Iris’ interactions with the magical world grow via Geoff’s father, who’s served for years as the Order’s librarian and keeper of the mystical articles. Iris and Lall engage in an intense battle- Iris trying to prevent Lall from reaching Nonesuch.

But Spufford fumbles awkwardly in his telling of the tale from a women’s perspective. Lall describes herself early in the novel as a “bad girl”, “slut”, “Fucking a sailor would be easy”, “Fuck-it-Let’s-Do-It-Anyway Iris”, “Take it from a slut”, and “I want to get warm, at least before I get fucked.” Iris thinks to herself that she relied “on the bad girl’s advantage of being taken to dinner a lot” and of “the discoveries of a woman’s power if she was shameless.” Iris repeatedly describes her sexuality in the most male derogatory terms. She muses, “Borrowing the men’s language for desire, you knew that the right worlds that turned you into meat were nearby.” No smart, ambitious woman of her times would be so self-sabotaging. The repeated instance of this happening deeply detracts from the novel’s strong historical and fantasy elements.

The book ends with a cliff-hanger smack dab in the middle of the action. Here’s hoping that Iris will be back to the wonders of Nonesuch and the rise of her financial career without the damaging internal dialog.

Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.