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Nonesuch

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Nonesuch

By: Francis Spufford
Narrated by: Lydia Wilson
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About this listen

'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.

©2026 Francis Spufford (P)2026 Faber & Faber Fantasy Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Heartfelt England War
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I enjoyed this story so much that I could not stop listening but also so much did not want it to end. I hope that there will be more from this author very soon.

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I've been listening to Spufford's books since Cahokia Jazz, which I loved.

He never fails to bring something new with each novel. I find him to be a very good world builder.

Great story and truly excellent narration. The narrator really cared.

Loved the story with great narration

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vivid descriptions of the strange creatures and the blitz. characters very credible and well drawn.

fascinating book

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It’s not obvious but this is part 1 of the story. Don’t let that put you off as it’s a great historical fantasy where magic is used to time travel. The depiction of London in the early years of WW2 is very evocative and Iris is a likeable protagonist blundering into a world she was unaware of.

The only downer for me was Iris falling head over heels for Geoff, which considering her motivations in the story just seem off kilter to me.

Part 1

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Let me say at the outset that the combination of Francis Spufford’s writing and Lydia Wilson’s narration is about as good as it gets. This is a fascinating and highly original tale which evokes the period of 1939-1940 London beautifully. There are a few anachronisms, but they are minor; (apparently the use of the word ‘loo’ for lavatory, was first recorded in the 1930s, but I cannot believe that it was in common use during during the period in question). The heroine, Iris, I fell in love with, and that was due to a combination of Spufford’s writing and Lydia Wilson’s never less than perfect narration.

What leaves me highly dissatisfied is what is left out of this audio recording from the original book. There is a very interesting and relevant author’s note at the end of the book of a page or so which has been omitted. But the exclusion that made me spit feathers when comparing notes with my wife—who has a hard copy of the book—is the single page, after the end, which says in capital letters ‘TO BE CONTINUED’. Without knowing this, the ending left me crumpled. Audible MUST rectify these two omissions!

Wonderful, but infuriating omission!

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