What would life have been like if a single rocket hadn't hit a Woolworths in South

London in 1944?

Francis Buffard will be here to talk about his new novel, Light Perpetual.

And what's so great about Iceland?

Eagle B. Arnson will join us to talk about his new book, How Iceland Change the World.

Alexander Alter will be here with the latest in publishing news.

Plus, our critics will join us for the latest in literary criticism.

This is the Bookerview podcast from The New York Times.

It's June 4th.

I'm Pamela Paul.

Francis Buffard joins us now from Ely, just north of Cambridge in England.

His latest novel is called Light Perpetual.

Francis, thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

Set the scene for us with Light Perpetual.

This is a kind of counterfactual.

It is.

And the fact gets established good and hard in the first chapter when a German V2 missile

falls on South London at the very end of the Second World War and annihilates a branch

of Woolworths.

This is based on a real incident in a place I walked past on my way to the College I

T. Chat in London over and over again.

...