Book Review: Days of Light by Megan Hunter

About the Book:

Easter Sunday, 1938. Ivy is nineteen and ready for her life to finally begin. In the idyllic Sussex countryside, her sprawling, bohemian family and their friends gather for lunch, awaiting the arrival of a longed-for guest.

It is a single, enchanted afternoon that ends in tragedy.

Days later, at a funeral, Ivy is kissed by the man she will marry and grieves with the woman who will become the love of her life. And this is only the beginning.

Chronicling six pivotal days across six decades, Days of Light moves through the Second World War and the twentieth century on a radiant journey through a life lived in pursuit of love and in search of an answer.

Published by Picador

Released April 2025

My Thoughts:

Days of Light is Megan Hunter’s first foray into historical fiction and what a treat it is. This novel is sublime. I read Megan’s previous release, The Harpy, and loved that also so I was keen to read her next release without delay. There’s a quality to her writing that sets her apart from the masses. The way this story unfolds as well, six chapters, six days, over six decades, was such a unique way to tell a story, but it worked, it worked so well.

That night in the water: wasn’t there, if she thinks carefully enough, if she pushes until it hurts, wasn’t there a moment when she could have saved him? When he called to her. She thinks of it now, she makes herself: the black water, his voice, wet, choking.

Ivy.

But she had kept her face fixed on the light, on mystery, the mystery that would pull her, like an engine, for the rest of her life. She had chosen.

Days of Light is a story of love and loss, of seeking that one thing that is meant to fulfil, of seeking answers to the mystery of a life changing loss. There is a spirituality to this story that I appreciated and a vulnerability to Ivy, the protagonist, that was deeply affecting. The sense of time and place was richly realised throughout, no mean feat as the story took place across so many decades. Throughout this story, I was reminded, over and over, that it is never too late, for anything, and that sometimes, the answer is quite simply, that there is no answer.

Beautifully written, Days of Light is a stunning novel, and it left me with a serious book hangover that was impossible to shake.

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.