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Nonesuch

Not yet published
Expected 10 Mar 26

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A spellbinding tale about an ambitious young woman who must thwart an occult plot by time-traveling fascists during the chaos of the London Blitz—from “one of our most powerful writers of wayward historical fiction” (The Washington Post).

Following the acclaim of his previous novels Golden Hill and Cahokia Jazz, Francis Spufford delivers a masterpiece of literary fantasy, hailed by Joe Hill as “a book that scoops up all the wonder and hope and pleasure of the Narnia novels, and pours it into a story for grown-ups.”

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.

496 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 24, 2026

6617 people want to read

About the author

Francis Spufford

20 books784 followers
Officially, I was a writer of non-fiction for the first half of my career, and I certainly enjoyed scraping up against the stubborn, resistant, endlessly interesting surface of the real world. I like awkwardness, things that don't fit, things that put up a struggle against being described. But when I was excited by what I was writing about, what I wanted to do with my excitement was always to tell a story. So every one of my non-fiction books borrowed techniques from the novel, and contained sections where I came close to behaving like a novelist. The chapter retelling the story of Captain Scott's last Antarctic expedition at the end of "I May Be Some Time", for example, or the thirty-page version of the gospel story in "Unapologetic". It wasn't a total surprise that in 2010 I published a book, "Red Plenty", which was a cross between fiction and documentary, or that afterwards I completed my crabwise crawl towards the novel with the honest-to-goodness entirely-made-up "Golden Hill". This was a historical novel about eighteenth century New York written like, well, an actual eighteenth century novel: hyperactive, stuffed with incident, and not very bothered about genre or good taste. It was elaborate, though. It was about exceptional events, and huge amounts of money, and good-looking people talking extravagantly in a special place. Nothing wrong with any of that: I'm an Aaron Sorkin fan and a Joss Whedon fan, keen on dialogue that whooshes around like a firework display. But those were the ingredients of romance, and there were other interesting things to tell stories about, so my next novel "Light Perpetual" in 2021 was deliberately plainer, about the lives that five London children might have had if they hadn't been killed in 1944 by a German rocket. Ordinary lives, in theory; except that there are no ordinary lives, if you look closely enough. It was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Then in 2023 I returned to strong forms of story, and to plotting more like "Golden Hill", with a noir crime novel called "Cahokia Jazz", set in the 1922 of a different timeline, where a metropolis full of Native Americans stood on the banks of the Mississippi. I was aiming for something like a classic black and white movie, except one you never saw, because it came from another history than our own. It won the Sidewise Award for alternate history. And now (2025/6) I've written a historical fantasy, "Nonesuch", set during the London Blitz, where as well as German bombs the protagonist Iris needs to deal with time-travelling fascists, and the remnants of Renaissance magic, preserved in the statues of the burning city. As writers of fantasy, I like C S Lewis, Ursula Le Guin, John Crowley, Tamsyn Muir, Guy Gavriel Kay, Katherine Addison. If you like them, you may like this.

Biography: I was born in 1964, the child of two historians. I'm married to the Dean of an Anglican cathedral in eastern England, I have two daughters, and I teach writing at Goldsmiths College, London.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
Profile Image for charlotte,.
3,041 reviews1,058 followers
January 31, 2026
On my blog.

Galley provided by publisher

It has been 96 days between my finishing Nonesuch and coming to review it. Ninety-six days in which it has become no clearer just how I am to write a review that can do this book justice. But, let me try.

Nonesuch was, by far and away, the best book I read in 2025. Admittedly, last year was uncommonly sparse in 5 star reads for me, but even so Nonesuch stood out. This was not a surprise: ever since I read Golden Hill a few years back, Francis Spufford has been on my list of favourite authors. I knew, from the very first page, that it would be incredible.

When I first picked up a Spufford novel, what immediately stuck out for me was the prose. A lot of prose feels like it’s striving for invisibility these days, but Spufford’s feels like each individual word is carefully selected, though in such a way that it neither feels too purple or overwrought. Instead, each little bit of description gives you a thrill, being distinctive and yet incredibly apt, observations which are memorable and also immersive.

Because Spufford’s prose is very good at transporting you to, in this case, 1940s London during the Blitz. Very rarely have I read an author who is quite so skilled at conjuring setting like Spufford can. There are certain scenes of this book that I can still viscerally recall even months later (and here I must confess to (usually!) a very poor memory for books, particularly when I’ve read several more in the meantime), from the creeping unease that follows Iris early on, to the gutpunch of an ending: I would go so far as to call this book unforgettable.

That’s also down to the central characters of this one. Iris and Geoff are both individually compelling, and even more so together. I’m not sure how much I want to say about this one, because I think this is a book that the less you know about it going in, the better, but I think it’s further proof to me that the most capital-r Romantic and compelling romances are in books which are not primarily romance novels. I have been thinking about Iris and Geoff on and off for ninety-six days since finishing this one. I have pointedly not been thinking about how long I have to wait for a resolution to their story.

All of which is, in a very un-justice-doing way, to say that if there is any 2026 release you pick up this year, it should be Nonesuch. If there’s any 2026 release you pick up in any other year, it should be Nonesuch. If you pick up only one other book in your life ever again, it should be Nonesuch. Just. Read Nonesuch.
Profile Image for n.
236 reviews81 followers
October 27, 2025
spectacular. i would like 50 more immediately. i know this is the randomest comparison of all time but: made me feel how i felt when i first finished ninth house
185 reviews2 followers
December 23, 2025
Speculative fiction that’s mostly a recount of women during the Blitz. Love the writing style and the characterisations, frustrated by the inevitable denouement and reveal
Profile Image for Catherine.
42 reviews1 follower
November 9, 2025
This is the Francis Spufford of Golden Hill: erudite, adventurous, strong characters and fascinating social history all expertly served up in gorgeous prose. I savoured this novel, rooted for our protagonist Iris, and ended up with several browser tabs open as I wanted to follow-up all the historical references. I had never really thought too deeply before about what it must've been like in London during the Blitz - the sleeplessness, the ruins, the raids, the relentlessness of it all alongside the demands of ordinary life - but this book really made me see it. Not least, how dark it would have been in the blackout, and how people would have needed to get used to that (and the workarounds they developed for dealing with it). I was struck by the demographic changes too, summarisd by the higher pitch of public crowds - because female voices now outnumbered male ones. The insights into wartime finance and the stockmarket also had me gripped, and I never thought that finance could grip me! A fantastic five-stars - I will think of this book each time I'm in the City.
Profile Image for Ian Mond.
765 reviews125 followers
Read
January 31, 2026
You can find my review of the wildly imaginative Nonesuch in the February 2026 edition of Locus.
Profile Image for Hester.
19 reviews2 followers
Read
October 12, 2025
I ought to try to review this properly but all I really have to say is that I liked it a lot and during a pre-publication author event I went to Francis Spufford said that the fantasy fiction he was most inspired by when writing this was THE LOCKED TOMB BY TAMSYN MUIR.
Profile Image for Mike.
Author 46 books194 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 16, 2025
This is a fine piece of fiction.

It reminds me of Connie Willis, in that it's set in World War II, in the Blitz, and involves time travel, though the time travel doesn't come until the end. It also reminds me of Charles Williams, in that it's set in the period when he was writing and involves the occult (a secret society along the lines of the Golden Dawn, working from the writings of a 17th-century researcher who discovered how to bind lesser angels into statues around London). But it feels very different from both authors. It has more psychological and spiritual depth than Willis, and is more down to earth and much less self-consciously lyrical than Williams, and the main character is one that neither of them would write. It's like the best parts of both writers, plus something neither of them achieves.

The author started out as a nonfiction writer, which is probably why it feels so well researched, and yet the research isn't ground into the reader's face like some authors (including Connie Willis) sometimes do. It's used to give us a moment of observation that makes us feel like we're actually there and then, a passing detail that someone in that place and time might well have observed. It's literary in feel, but not in the trying-too-hard, overly lyrical way that some writers approach being literary. It feels literary because of the aptness of the observations, the way the characters come to understand themselves and each other, and the theme that runs throughout.

I'd summarize that theme as a confrontation and a contrast between people who believe that having power gives them the right to do whatever they want because they can, and people who believe that human freedom and dignity is a higher value. The most obvious level at which this operates is World War II itself, between the Nazis and the beleaguered British. Part of the plot hinges on the moment where Churchill almost didn't become Prime Minister and lead Britain to fight, instead of taking the easier route of folding in the face of the Nazi threat. But it's also operating at the level of the occultists and British fascists (there's considerable overlap between the two groups); real-life occultists often were seekers of power for its own sake, and if they had got it would have used it to exploit others for their own benefit, so this rings true. And at a personal level, it comes down to two women: Lall, an aristocratic British fascist who has got hold of some of the occult research and is determined to use it to impose her vision of how the world should be ordered, regardless of what anyone else thinks or what it costs them, and the protagonist, Iris, who is determined to stop her, who considers the losses Britain is suffering (and that she herself and her beloved are suffering) are a worthwhile price for freedom.

Iris is a complex character. She starts out, for me, at least, unsympathetic; she sleeps with a number of well-off idiots who she has no respect and not much liking for, mostly because she enjoys the sex, though also (very secondarily) because they take her to nice places beforehand. She picks up Geoff, a nerdy young radio engineer, at a bohemian club they both happen to be at, partly to spite Lall, who Geoff is obviously smitten by, though it's equally obvious Lall doesn't want him. But then events both supernatural and otherwise start to occur, and Iris starts to discover new dimensions in the world and in herself. Eventually, we get the story that's been hinted at throughout about the fire that changed her life, and it forms a key part of a devastating conclusion that pulls off the "surprising but inevitable" trick perfectly.

In fact, the whole thing is pulled off very nearly perfectly, with the odd exception (for such a careful researcher) of a family whose individual titles make no sense when taken together. I had a pre-publication version for review from Netgalley, and will mention this issue to the publisher, and it may well be corrected before publication. I did also wonder , but that was a minor point.

This is by far one of the best books I have read this year, and given that I've read, so far, 150 books in 2025, that's an achievement. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Kate Downey.
134 reviews19 followers
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
February 1, 2026
I adored this amusing, weird alternate reality novel and I don't know when I have been so entertained. Well, I do. I am often entertained but rarely in such a whizz-bang manner. The Blitz, the occult and a London that contains mysteries and marvels. Pure joy!

Novels that lean so heavily on the events of WWII, the Blitz, the gumption and endless stoicism, heroism, undefeated spirit of the British (in this case) might cause the odd rolled eyeball from me (given the absolute deluge of mediocre sensationalist novels dedicated to WWII, La Résistance, and love in times of war) and in any other hands this would have read as a mangled triumphalist hark back to the Empire in all its (tarnished) glory. Spufford, however, delights in writing the jolly decent chaps and all that jazz alongside a deeply funny novel about a young woman, a “good time” girl who is ambitious but has morals as well as being easy on the eye and undeniably clever. Wasted in a clerical job at her stockbroker’s, Iris can argue Keynesian economics with the best of them (the men), and has Ideas about how her company could ride out the financial uncertainty at the onset of war. She’s great fun and her petty seduction of Geoff (not a spoiler) to piss off aspiring Fascist Lall, blossoms into a lovely, messy, uncertain love affair that might well last.

Our brainy but beautiful Iris takes stock of a collapsing world, survives the gaze of terrible angels, the deadly attention of a malign secret order, discovers an assassination plot due to occur in another version of London—a time warp version —and her adventures multiply. Spufford takes the middle-class ‘female’, deprived of the opportunity to use her brain, visible/desirable only in terms of her looks, defined by duty and knowing her place, and rewrites her, or rewrites her opportunities, with affection and admiration. Beyond the tongue in cheek almost cheesiness of how dashed brave she is, you feel Spufford really believes in the Iris and all the Delias and Mrs Sinclairs of this world. Who else could keep it all going?

I read Nonesuch on two levels. It is deeply political as well as entertaining. It stands as a serious warning about the rise of ideologies, fascist, right-wing ideologies and the attempts to normalise elements of the behaviour and policies we see enacted by many governments around the world. Spufford seems to point to that very same indefatigable spirit of resistance that saw Londoners through the Blitz as a model for our own resistance going forward.

Nonesuch is also a romp. It is fruity, blowsy, intellectually and emotionally engaging, tender, hair-raising, hilarious and (unexpectedly) expanded my vocabulary. Bad news—we have to wait for the sequel. How very dare he!

1 review
Review of advance copy received from Author
December 11, 2025
An enormous treat of a book!

I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Nonesuch, and I really can't say when I last enjoyed a novel so much. It feels at once huge and intimate, a gripping story that ranges from the squalid to the divine, with a human tale at the heart of it that I was rooting for passionately.

The premise is so clever I'm actually a bit hesitant to spoil it because seeing it unfurl is part of the joy. Let's say this: it's the end of the 1930s in London. Iris is a go-getting girl from Watford, out for a good time and with secret ambitions to take the world by storm - not an easy path to find for someone much smarter than someone of her class and sex is supposed to be. When she strays off her usual track one evening, she thinks she's just going to have a bit of fun with a more bohemian scene than she usually hangs around with. Then a good time with a nicer man than she usually hooks up with. Then . . . there's something outside his house. Something that moves wrong. Something that isn't safe. Something that isn't of this endangered world at all.

The story is gripping, an old-fashioned good read in the very best sense. The prose is full of sentences I want to eat whole. A building described a 'One of those art nouveau-ish blocks whose stonework was smoothed into curves, as if all the component parts had been partially sucked like gobstoppers before assembly.' A Christmas scene: 'The waters of the Thames were iron-dark, welling and wrinkling as the tide turned, and they ate each snowflake that fell in them as if it had never been.' The heroine experiencing 'the very distinctive feeling of unfairness that came of saying a true thing for an underhand reason.' There's a vividness and a dry wit to how the story is told that enlivens every page.

If you have an interest in history, occultism or the traditions of fantasy, it's also a marvellous game. Spufford wears his knowledge lightly, but plays with the past with a depth and subtlety that gives the book a real intelligence and humanity that keeps on being rewarding time and time again, even after you think you've gotten to grips with his subject and didn't expect another surprise.

Add to all this a genuinely moving romance at the heart of it and ... well, you know those books you find yourself thinking about in between reading, wondering, 'What's going to happen next? What are the characters up to? How's it all going to work out?' This is one of those books. It really stays in your mind, and I can guess now it's going to be a delectable reread.

Really, I can't recommend this enough; it's the best time I've had with a book in ages.
487 reviews19 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 30, 2026
Three little words. That’s all it takes to ruin a day, turn blue skies grey and make the reader want to scream and shout at those three little words.
TO BE CONTINUED.
In my defence, it was never mentioned in the blurb, that this book was not the complete story, which is a shame. However, I found this to be a wonderfully creative read, skilfully written and very informative about aspects of World War 2, that I had never considered, the financial markets and stocks and bonds with all the implications for how to fund a war, when it is not clear if there will be a war, or how long it will last.
There are two very likeable main characters, Iris is a strong willed, independent and sexually adventurous worker in a brokers office, and Geoff, her very innocent and sexually naive boyfriend. There is also a sprinkle of supernatural magic in the form of Raphael, a rather bossy Angel.
Angels have been trapped in statues that are scattered around the City of London. They need to be freed, this involves some rather hair raising manoeuvres high above the rooflines whilst the Blitz is in full swing.
Iris is a volunteer fire watcher, but bombs dropping everywhere still pose a threat to her, plus a female assassin who wants to find a secret portal that will take her back in time to assassinate Winston Churchill to stop the war. Slipping and sliding across roofs whist incendiaries are dropping makes for quite a scary read at times, and if you suffer from vertigo, the stomach muscles may start to churn at this point.
Time travel means that Iris will have the ability to make amends for a past mistake.
Nonesuch is a magical place that will only reveal itself after a series of clues are solved, when various bridges and traps have to be negotiated in order to help Raphael fulfil his tasks.
I found this to be a very gripping and emotional read. Just how does the author manage to convey what sexual desires and feelings are really like for females? Really well expressed in this aspect. I did enjoy this story very much, but I still remain disappointed that the conclusion will probably be a few months down the line, before all these loose ends are successfully resolved.
Profile Image for Sarah.
467 reviews34 followers
November 16, 2025
Another wonderful read by Francis Spufford and I’m saying that as someone who normally wouldn’t consider picking up a fantasy novel! ‘Nonesuch’ is about so much more than a fully devised ‘other world’. Spufford takes his reader to the outset of WW2 in London, where protagonist, Iris Hawkins, who has a lowly job in the City, has a close brush with fascist fanaticism and learns that only her actions can stop Nazi invasion.

Whilst this sounds preposterous, Spufford makes his world real through entirely credible characters. Iris is a wonderful creation; a working class woman who mostly uses men as they use her. Clever, unashamedly aspirational and yet vulnerable, we have her back throughout the novel, not least when she comes across the aristocratic Lalage, in every way her bête noir. Even when describing something as unlikely as a roof top showdown between the two women, Spufford always roots his characters’ behaviour in reality so that the fantasy element is lightly worn. After Lalage tells Iris that, if she sees her again, she will kill her, we are told that, ‘She ducked her head, fair hair dipping. ‘Thank you,’ she said formally. Thenk you. Some kind of script of politeness had kicked in. The kind of code that might linger in a grand family even when they all started wearing black shirts. ‘Please don’t follow me or pax will be over.’’

As the ending signifies, this is a clearly a story ‘to be continued’ and there are plenty of unanswered questions and elements of underdeveloped plot that will have me rushing to get my hands on the next instalment. The author’s depiction of a ‘warts and all’ wartime London, including financial systems in play and political expediencies at work, alongside a quietly developing, moving love story works incredibly well. And, the author being Spufford, of course the whole novel is beautifully written. Highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
Profile Image for Jessica Gilmore.
Author 267 books89 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 7, 2026
First book of 2026 and wow, the bar has been set high. I have loved every fictional work Francis Spufford has written, especially as each one is so different I have no idea what to expect except knowing I am guaranteed beautiful writing, twisting plots, moments of high emotion with deft touches of humour and characters who jump off the page they are so three dimensional.
Set in the Blitz Nonesuch blends literary, magic, horror and historical fiction seamlessly, evoking the weary horror of the Blitz in all its exhausting, dust-covered, terrifying detail. I have read many books set in London during this time and I don't think any of them have brought the day to day slog of life under bombing so vividly to life.
Iris is clever, ambitious, confident, aware of and in charge of her sexuality and has a keen financial brain- none of which is considered appropriate for a nice surburban girl in 1939. She is also fiercely practical so when she becomes aware of something other, something supernatural, magical and downright terrifying, it's a lot to take in. But she is also curious and despite herself finds herself drawn into the world of sinister secret scieties with facist tendancies and racing against time to stop them changing the course of history. Iris is a wonderful protagonist, not always likeable even to herself, complex and contradictory and self-aware - it's disappointingly rare for men to write multi-layered women well, especially women who are sexually confident, but Spufford produces a master class in how to do so.
This is a fabulous book. Read it. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Tanya.
1,399 reviews24 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 3, 2026
...it had to be done whole-heartedly or not at all. Not at all! voted Iris the chief clerk, Iris the careful calculator of odds, Iris the prudent investor. All in, all at once, and fuck it, voted the bad girl, and the lover, and the risk-taker, and the suburban slut not willing to be defeated by some whey-faced bitch of a fascist. [loc. 3855]

Another alternate history, in a sense, from Francis Spufford. Set in London during the Blitz, it focusses on Iris Hawkins, an ambitious young woman prevented from success in business by her gender, but determined to make the most of her natural gift for finance. She's also determined to enjoy life: she's sexually active, self-sufficient and eminently pragmatic. She hooks up with Geoff, a young and innocent BBC engineer, on a night out, and finds herself drawn into an occult underworld, an anti-fascist plot, and some unexpected statues.

On the one hand, my favourite read in December and one of my favourites of 2025: on the other, these terrible words which I was not expecting: 'To be continued'. Woe!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers! Proper review nearer publication, which is due 26 FEB 26.


Read an excerpt here, and listen to The Coode Street Podcast featuring Spufford.

Profile Image for Book Club Review podcast (Kate).
11 reviews15 followers
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
January 8, 2026
Francis Spufford checks a lot of boxes for me. I love good writing, I love characters I can care about, and stories that take me on a journey. I also love how inventive he is as a writer – Golden Hill, then Light Perpetual, completely different, then Cahokia Jazz, completely different again. When I heard his latest novel was going to be set in London during the Blitz and had a supernatural element, and knowing he has a deep appreciation of things like the C.S. Lewis Narnia books, my expectations were alight, and I was so happy Nonesuch did not disappoint. There are elements here that fans of his other books will recognize. The vivid characters and dialogue made me think of Golden Hill, the sense of place took me back to the London of Light Perpetual – London is so beautifully evoked here, it is pretty much a character in itself – and then that sense of the ineffable, of things that go beyond the earthly dimension, of angels trapped within stone, of rivers of time. The main character, Iris Hawkins, is a brilliant heroine, bright, undaunted, brave. I loved the detail that she was inspired by Spufford's grandmother Nancy, 'not entirely a good girl' as he says in the dedication. And somehow managing to combine the terrors of London during the Blitz with this clever supernatural mystery without trivialising the war in any way, but rather honouring the generation of people who lived through it – it all took my breath away. So looking forward to the book coming out to find out what other people think.
Profile Image for Kate Hyde.
278 reviews4 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 21, 2026
I seem to be in the minority here, but this one left me a bit disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed he author's previous fiction books, but this one has me reviewing my take on them.
The historical research is excellent as usual - an absolute must - but it is left down by both the character-building and the intertwining of fantasy and reality.
The prose throughout is excellent too but, despite some brilliant historical details in drawing their lives, I failed to believe in either Iris, Geoff or Lall. Possibly the author's background in non-fiction doesn't help, but more likely that his previous books were set further back in history, making it easier to ascribe motives and emotions more apposite to the present day.
The mingling of reality and fantasy didn't work too well for me either - it came across as neither one thing nor the other, in the end. Presumably if fantastic elements were to intrude on one's life, it would indeed give an hallucinogenic feeling, sloughed off like a bad dream - albeit, in this case, exacerbated by the surreal nature of your city being bombed whilst daily life carries on. But this is a novel, and the imperative of dramatic flow suggests a more forced schedule than we get.
Overall, nicely written, good prose and research, but the characters did not come alive, and the fantasy elements were lacking.
My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Leanne.
758 reviews71 followers
November 18, 2025
Nonesuch is a richly layered historical fantasy that captures the charged atmosphere of 1939 London with lyrical precision and speculative flair. Francis Spufford, known for his genre-defying storytelling, returns with a tale that bends time and reality, yet remains deeply anchored in human emotion.

At its heart is Iris Hawkins, a young woman navigating the rigid world of City finance, whose chance encounter with Geoff—a BBC technician—spirals into an adventure that’s as metaphysical as it is political. Spufford conjures a London teetering on the edge of war, where spirits can be summoned and history itself is malleable. The stakes are high: a fascist fanatic travels through time with a gun in hand, and only Iris can stop her.

The prose is elegant, the pacing deliberate, and the emotional resonance quietly powerful. Spufford’s vision of burning rooftops and twisted timelines is cinematic, yet intimate. Fans of Golden Hill will find familiar ingenuity here, but Nonesuch ventures further—into the uncanny, the urgent, and the deeply personal.

A triumph of literary imagination, Nonesuch is ideal for readers who crave historical fiction with speculative depth and emotional clarity.

My thanks to Francis Spufford, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Profile Image for Emilie.
252 reviews1 follower
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 27, 2026
I feel like I read a different book than everyone else. The premise sounds great, and I wanted to love it. But the promised appeal of "Narnia for grown-ups" was nowhere in sight. After the initial intrigue of the prologue, you have to get more than halfway through the book before the magical elements even become apparent, and even then there's not a lot of explanation of what they mean. I needed some world-building to understand what was happening, and by the time I got any, the book had already lost me. Geoff has the appeal of a wet blanket, and if I had to be reminded one more time that Iris is a lady of questionable virtue, or that men were staring at her breasts, I was going to throw my Kindle at the wall. WE GET IT. LET IT GO.

I love a good descriptive passage, but this book is so over the top it probably could have been half as long and not missed a thing. And please stop with the modern sexual slang and curse words in the mouths of 1930s and '40s characters. So out of place and weird.

Everyone else seems to have loved this book, so obviously the problem is me. But the ending is clearly a set-up for a sequel, and I won't be reading it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
191 reviews3 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 26, 2026
Francis Spufford is among the authors whose work I know I will love; I trust him, whether writing non-fiction such as Red Plenty or the novels Golden Hill and Light Perpetual. My reading preference is for realism over fantasy, exceptions including Philip Pullman and Bridget Collins. The quest in Nonesuch may involve a supernatural element but the emotion is all real.
I was swept into Spufford’s London - it’s as good a depiction of the city at war as any I’ve read: the daily grind of disrupted sleep and insufficient food and heating. He really captures the ‘collapse of ordinariness’, the uncertainties (and opportunities) of living through war.
Iris is a great central character. Because Spufford draws her in such a believable and well-detailed 1939, the only incredulity on encountering the terrifying thing she sees from the Hampstead cottage is hers. Ever the sceptic, she puts it down to a bad dream. Until it returns...
I heartily recommend Nonesuch if you fancy, as Spufford puts it, a ‘daft mixture … of wartime finance, early TV, archangels, Renaissance magic and falling bombs’. Top notch.
Thanks to Faber and Faber for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.
176 reviews6 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 16, 2025
I enjoy Francis Spufford's novels and Nonesuch doesn't disappoint. It is is a historical fantasy set in the years before WW2 and moving into the 1940s that shows us London on the edge of war. Spufford succeeds in making us feel part of the nervous anticipation of what is to come followed by the experience of war. The prose is lyrical and the descriptions are vivid and compelling - London after a bombing raid is vividly described.

Magical realism is combined with historical verisimilitude. A fascist has travelled through time with a gun and the main protagonist, Iris, must stop her. Meanwhile her relationship with Geoff, a BBC technician, provides another strand in the novel.

It's hard to do the book justice. I recommend you read it and many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a review copy.
Profile Image for Katy Wheatley.
1,420 reviews59 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 31, 2025
This is my last read of 2025 and I am delighted that it has been hands down one of my best reads of the year. Brilliantly written with fantastic characters who I adore, this absolutely gripped me from beginning to end. The setting, London in the Blitz is beautifully realised. I loved that Iris, the main character, is a woman operating in the world of high finance and her desire to be recognised for her skills in finance and trading are really well handled. The addition of a magical element to the story with secret societies using arcane skills to further the cause of fascism is a stroke of genius. The real and the magical elements of this are handled so well that this story never jars or feels wrong or odd. I will be buying many copies of this when it is finally published. I want everyone to read it.
Profile Image for Billy Easeman.
7 reviews
November 14, 2025
I LOVED IT. I thought it was really fun and interesting concept for the book. Iris is a fantastic character and understanding her and the other characters is an extremely fun process over the course of the book. the magic elements are limited but tasteful and add structure and a framework for the more personal wartime story to take place.

The ending has lost the book a star though. It opens up a lot of questions and doesn't really fit with the themes within the book? I was a little confused as to why this was introduced right at the end. The guilt that drives it is touched on but isn't focussed on enough that it feels like the entire passage of the book is erased. It left me unfulfilled after loving the passage of the whole book.
776 reviews21 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
December 16, 2025
I was asked by NetGalley to review this interesting and different spin on the London Blitz in World War 2- a fantasy novel .I have read a great deal about the London blitz but boy did the author conjure up the feel, the acrid smoke, the glass, devisation and black outs.

We meet Iris a young woman in the city working in finance, and Geoff working for the BBC, this is London at the beginning of the war, sprits can be summoned and history changed. a Fascist is travelling through time and it is Iris that will need to stop them.

What a different slant on history and a really good read a love story, morals of good v evil

I do hope there is a sequal.

Due for publication February 26 2026.
Profile Image for Samantha Noonan.
10 reviews6 followers
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January 2, 2026
I’m not giving this a star rating because, whilst it’s not really for me, I can still see that it’s a remarkable book … I just can’t get on board with fantasy. I think Francis Spufford is superb - Golden Hill is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read and both Light Perpetual and Cahokia Jazz (which I’d call ‘imaginary’ rather than ‘fantasy’) were highly readable & impressive novels. But in Nonesuch the imaginary eg the ‘what if’ premises of Spufford’s 2nd and 3rd novels give way fully to the purely fantastical eg magical spirits, time travel etc and it’s just not my thing so, I’m gutted to say, I DNF’d it. There really is so, so much to love about this novel, just not if you’re allergic to fantasy like silly old me xx
Profile Image for Barbara Scott-Emmett.
Author 12 books19 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 7, 2026
A fabulous book, in all senses of the word, Nonesuch takes us on a journey from war-torn London across bridges of time into a fantastic (again -,all senses) realm that is nevertheless entirely believable. While the blitz rages, a greater danger must be fought on an angelic level. The down-to-earth sections - a young couple slowly falling in love, a Nazi sympathising female toff, and an elderly part-time magician - are told with verve and grittiness. The up-in-the air magical realm is also beautifully described and is couched in a strange terrifying reality. This is a tour de force and Spufford at his absolute best.

I can't wait for the next instalment.

Excellent.
Profile Image for Patricia Williams.
454 reviews15 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 23, 2026
After reading the blurb and other reviews I really wanted to like this book. I haven't read anything else but this author so came to Nonesuch with no preconceived ideas of what to expect. Unfortunately I could not get into the story at all. I found it extremely wordy and the characters didn't appeal to me at all. I got about a third of the way through and had to give up. Obviously many other readers feel differently so apologies but that is my opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Dan.
510 reviews3 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 31, 2026
Occult London? In the Blitz? With a sparky, engaging and superbly well drawn heroine? Sign me up! Oh yeah, I really liked this. It’s as well-written and evocative as the best literary fiction, but doesn’t shy away from the fantastic or the imaginative. In fact, the book wholeheartedly embraces those sterling qualities, with great big dollops of magic and lore stirred into the pot. It’s intelligent, romantic, humane and engrossing and I’ll count myself lucky if I read many better books in 2026. I will have the follow up now, please.
Profile Image for emma.
1,211 reviews91 followers
November 16, 2025
An absolute banger of a book, looking forward to the sequel
Profile Image for Alex.
649 reviews28 followers
December 20, 2025
Francis Spufford is probably my favorite working writer. What an incredible treat his books are every time.
Profile Image for Susan.
97 reviews3 followers
Read
December 31, 2025
I'm going to wait to review this until closer to its release. I can't wait to talk about this book with others!
Profile Image for James.
424 reviews33 followers
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
January 13, 2026
This is probably a case of "it's not you, it's me" since most of the other reviews on this book are really amazing, but I was a little disappointed by it.

Full review to come closer to publication
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