Francis Spufford
Simon Mayo's Books of the Year
Bauer Media
4.9 • 994 Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Francis Spufford joins Simon and Matt for a natter about his new novel, 'Nonesuch'. They talk about his fascination with The Blitz, his inspirations for the fantasmical parts of the story and how he melded two genres together.
They also discuss craft, research, bending history - and the finished manuscript sitting on his computer which he isn't allowed to publish until 2034.
Here's a little more about the novel:
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.
Transcript
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| 1:16.6 | Hello and welcome. It's Books of the Year here, the podcast, from your friends at Books of the Year. I think that's all we need to say by way of introduction. You shouldn't know by now. |
| 1:20.5 | I mean, you've already downloaded it, so, you know. A couple of emails before we proceed. |
| 1:26.9 | Peter Gedge has been in touch. Many thanks for all your |
| 1:30.3 | guidance over the years on books, which has resulted in me reading good ones, giving good |
| 1:35.2 | presence and knowing what I should avoid. As part of my retirement resolutions, I have agreed, |
| 1:41.3 | with myself, to read more, but also to use our local library more frequently. |
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