Well this was an epic read!

The story centres around Drum from his National Service in the 1950s to the end of his life some 50 years later. Drum's National Service is spent in Doom Town, a mocked up town scenario of the effect of a nuclear strike; these experiences stick with Drum for the rest of his life, continually causing him anxiety and altering his life decisions.

Married to Gwen, and with a son and a daughter, Drum's life remains tied to his service years, with his friend (note it's a very subservient relationship) Carter - much richer and more privileged - influencing Drum throughout his life.

The characters and their interactions are beautifully written; be prepared to spend a lot of time with this book, it is long but it is epic - once the characters grip you, you'll be loathe to put it down. Stuart Evers captures contemporary and near-contemporary issues in such an intimate and emotional way that you'll be sorry when the book ends. It's a story about one family, but also a story about our nation.

What a novel! Even before it was out, the reviews were already unanimous, and for good reason: The Blind Light is one of those fictions that manage to convey the passage of time with awe-inspiring acuteness. It's a novel about Britain, a novel about class, a novel about family, a novel about friendship. It's about simple dreams and complicated betrayals, shattered hopes and undying love, truths left unsaid and lies too easily believed. It's about the power of money and the cynicism of it all. Above all, it's about all the things we keep inside, all the feelings we find ourselves unable to express. The Blind Light is a deeply moving exploration of what is underneath, the beauty, the ugliness, the humanity of it all.

I really enjoyed this character driven, slow moving story. The writing style was unique and impressive. I rooted for the characters, and absorbed by the story.

I understand some people may find it too slow, but I just liked it that way.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

This is a strange book. At one level it is a social history of life in the post atomic age, at another it is a gruelling family history ridden by class issues, and it sometimes reads as a description of lifelong post-traumatic stress brought on by the ghastliness of national service in the 1950s.

The book follows the lives of two men, Drummond and Carter who meet as they commence national service in the 1950s. Drummond is solid working class while Carter is wealthy nonchalance. Carter needs a protector and Drummond is drawn into the role and, subsequently, saves him from a number of beatings. Carter uses him but also feels indebted. It's a weird, almost symbiotic, relationship and it develops against the background of Civil Defence and the mad notions of surviving a nuclear attack. Both men end their service at Doom Town in Cumbria, a mock environment designed to train national servicemen to cope with atomic war.

Both are scarred by the experience. Carter remains working in the weird world of post apocalypse survival while Drummond soldiers on with nightmares and flashbacks. From this point their lives diverge. Drummond finds a relationship with Gwen, a librarian, and Carter with Cynthia but nuclear exercises and global crises find them pushed together again and their stresses are visited on their wives and children.

Gwen and Cynthia are the first casualties of the phoney wars lived by their husbands. I'm not sure if they're meant to be seen as typical of the working and aspiring classes but their lives are characterised by bullying, repression and missed opportunities - and that's only what their husbands manage to foist on them! The children are as damaged as you might expect and as unpleasant. I didn't warm to any of them!

Then strange things happen and Drummond ends up as a dairy farmer but as miserable and bound up in himself as he has always been. If the reader is meant to see him as good, solid working-class stock then it didn't work for me. He mellows as he ages but doesn't improve! His daughter leaves home and cuts off contact with the family to add to it all.

There are a few more crises and the plot moves from the bomb to Irish terror bombings in London, 9/11 and so on. In the end, the old people die but you have the impression the young are going to make the same mistakes.

It's a dark book and, perhaps, the easiest way to view it is as revealing the post-traumatic fallout of the nuclear age as it impacts on every social class and every person. That makes for quite a depressing read but some readers may see Drummond as an oak tree in the storm, heroic and immovable clinging to nature and his farm despite all that happens. In the end, it's an interesting and involving read, and you can take it at several levels but I think I just wanted a character to care about!

I can see why it will be a contender for some of the major prizes, and I so wanted to love this book - it's absolutely the sort of thing I love to read covering such a period of history and narrative from different characters. But ... I couldn't get into it and I struggled to like any of the characters (except for Daphne and Nathan a little bit). I can't put my finger on why I didn't rate this book, I just know that it left me highly frustrated with all of them and Drum, Carter and Gwen's overwhelming selfishness.

I really wanted to like this book after reading the publisher’s ‘blurb’. I struggled with the characters and the way the chapters jumped from one to the other without preamble and I was left playing catch-up for several paragraphs until I got back into rhythm. I can see how the story would appeal to some readers and there certainly is a huge slice of British social history contained in it but I gave up after reading about a third of the book. Sorry but it wasn’t for me......

Terrific novel. Spans the lives of the polar opposite privileged Carter and working class Moore families. The men meet during National Service in 1959 when they train in ‘Doom Town’ to deal with a post-nuclear attack. The experience bonds them for life and they become neighbours when Drum Moore, now married to Gwen with their baby daughter Anneka dash from London to The Lakes to escape possible fall out from The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Moores run the dairy farm attached to Carter’s palatial family home.
Some huge national and international themes provide a wide-ranging context. Class, The Cold War, Dagenham Ford strikes, the Rave culture are presented through the intimate perspective of family life which brings its own dramas as children grow up, have children of their own and ultimately, by 2019, become the central characters.
Evers is an engaging and accomplished writer, whose insights into human nature and behaviour make even the minor characters entirely convincing as they are developed through a huge range of life experiences. And we are made to recognise the importance and significance of friendship and family ties no matter what is threatening in the wider world. Not much divides us, really.
Very grateful to #NetGalley and #Picador for my pre-release digital download. And for introducing me to a new ‘must read more’ writer

The Blind Light is a quite exceptional novel by Stuart Evers.. Drum and Carter are 2 young men from opposite ends of the social scale doing their National Service in the 1950's. The Cold War is in full flow and most of their service is passed at a facility used to train troops for the aftermath of a nuclear war. To facilitate this a replica of a post-nuclear strike town, nicknamed "Doom Town" has been built, a place that has a massive effect on Drum as it imprints the reality of a nuclear conflagration on him.
The book is basically the story of Drum and Carter's unlikely friendship over the years, with the shadow of the nuclear threat looming in the background., from the 1950's to the current decade. They both marry and have families and the intertwining relationships between the Moores and the Carters are also a very big part of the saga. As well as the family stories the book is a social history with changing times, attitudes and social mores over the decades and the clashes over them between the generations being deftly portrayed .
This is the first book I've read by Stuart Evers but it won't be the last. He's a truly excellent writer and his characters come to life ,their flaws,strengths, desires and weaknesses painting a picture of the whole person leaving the reader feeling as if these are people they really know, Quite amazing is how Mr Evers convincingly gets into the head of his characters be they adolescent girls, angry young men,confused elderly women,good people,bad people and those who are a bit of both.
There are ambiguities ,as in real life,is there an act of reconciliation, or did a dying person imagine it? Was a life-changing incident real or a manifestation of mental illness?
This is a book to savour, take your time over and enjoy the work of a master wordsmith.
There are a lot of good books around,this is an exceptional one.

Thanks to Stuart Evers, Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Stuart Evers epic and ambitious novel follows the lives, friendship, and families of two men, Drummond 'Drum' Moore and Carter from post-war 1950s Britain through the decades, amidst the background of British and global history, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War, Dagenham Strikes. the IRA bombing campaigns, the War on Terror and culture. Drum ignites his friendship with Carter in 1959 when they meet during National Service after saving him from a card scam. The two men are very different, Drum is the quiet, background type whilst Carter has a confidence, social adeptness, and certainty that befits a privileged man from an influential social strata, sent down from Oxford, a slippery man. From the start, the relationship is overtly unequal, with Carter having no qualms about gaslighting Drum and letting him down. Drum changes so much that he becomes a double act with Carter in the regaling of their fictitious war stories at the base, finding a respect and deference that had never been accorded to him previously.

Drum begins to read after nudging from Carter, beginning with Charles Dicken's Great Expectations, perhaps an allusion to Drum's expectations of his friendship with Carter, moving on to other books, where he sees the ghost of Carter in all of them. Their time at Doom Town, the military post-apocalyptic training exercises are to haunt and have long lasting consequences. Drum is to marry Gwen, a barmaid, whilst Carter weds Daphne, and have children. When the men return to ordinary life, Carter falling back into his life of social and economic privilege with an effortless ease whilst Drum becomes a Ford worker at Dagenham. The lives of the two men appear to be on completely different trajectories until Carter offers Drum the opportunity to become a farmer by moving North, the two families next to each other. The narrative follows their lives, the ins and outs of their relationships, their children, the conflicts, betrayals, deceptions, and the specific fallout of what happens in the 1980s through the decades as the past continues to haunt the present.

The details and rich descriptions in the novel make the time periods feel authentic and come alive, particularly the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Evers real talent is in the creation of his complicated characters, and developing them, the exploration of their complex relationships with each other as they come together and disintegrate through the years, lives and patterns that resonate with local, national and global history and events. This is brilliantly structured storytelling, about all that it is to be human and flawed, class, friendship, marriage, family, being a parent, family dynamics, behaviour and decisions made when a person has little idea as to their consequences in the future. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.

I really liked the idea of this book but I could not get into it at all. I kept persevering hoping that it would get better. I did not like the writing style and found the story slow. Sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

What a magnus opus. There were times when I felt that this book was overly long but I was extremely sad to finish it. The stories of the Carter family and the moore family over a period of more than 50 years was so very well told. The emotional insights sets this book apart from other family dramas. Quite original and ever so engaging

You have to be in it for the long haul with this book, and if you stick with it you’re fully rewarded with the rich complexities of a decades-long close relationship between two men., who stick together against the odds.

Carter and Drum meet while doing national service in the 1950s. They are very different in temperament, class and approach to life,

Through bringing in family and extended relationships, the book covers many different aspects of life and society, and in particular the psychological effects of the cold war on the men and their families.

There are some very moving scenes between the different characters, the only part I felt less convincing was the rather abrupt ending which tied things up in a particularly neat way.

A satisfying read that covers massive issues with sensitivity and insight, the book and its characters stay with you long past the ending.

Spanning six decades, Stuart Evers’ The Blind Light tells the story of post-war Britain through two families, both from opposite ends of the social spectrum, beginning with the friendship between Drummond and Carter formed during their National Service training in 1959. When Drum tips Carter the wink at a card school where he’s spied a cheat, he saves Carter’s bacon and makes a friend for life. They’re stationed in Cumbria, the site of a ‘doom town’ set up to simulate the aftermath of a nuclear strike. By the time their National Service is over Drum is engaged to Gwen and Carter to Daphne, despite his constant philandering.
Each returns to their very different lives but their friendship continues. Children are born, crises are weathered. Drum becomes a member of the Civil Defence, his life led on constant alert for the catastrophe he’s sure will happen. The events of one dramatic night in 1980 stretch the bonds between the families to breaking point, the repercussions of which will come home to roost when the novel ends in 2019.
This is a richly textured, immersive novel, full of convincing characters whose stories echo that of their changing country, and it has an immensely satisfying ending. I’m not a fan of doorstop novels but Evers 540+ page chunkster is the exception that breaks that rule.

Drum and Carter meet during military service and bond, across the class divide, through their experiences in Doomtown, a mock nuclear wasteland constructed for miltary training. Through the years, Drum is unable to shake either his unwavering devotion to the unscrupulous Carter, or his overshadowing fears of nuclear armageddon. Drum marrries Gwen and Carter marries Daphne, they have children, who feud and are estranged from their parents and at the end there is a levelling, of sorts.

Evers can write well and small segments of the story gripped me but t is incredibly long and really not a huge amount happens. It's atmospheric, more successfully perhaps in the 50s and 60s chapters, but I never was really able to get inside any of the characters. The title 'the blind light' seems to refer to our inability to navigate our own futures, so that we must always live with the consequences of the choices we make or don't make, and we don't know which of our choices may have been the best we could have hoped for. I thought it was an interesting theme but for me it was a slow and heavy read.

I approached this book with some trepidation. It has already won so many plaudits that is seemed impossible that it would live up to them; it does.
This is an intricately woven story of two men – and their families. It explores friendships that endure, marital love that can endure and familial ties which often don’t. Hanging over all of this is the constant threat of the annihilation of society as we know it and this, in particular, affects one of the main protagonists, Drum. In fact, I would go so far as to say that his parenting style is a direct result of his wish to keep his family safe – which of course sends them far away from him.
I found the structure of the book compelling too although I must admit that I was most engaged with the later parts where Drum and Gwen were old and coming to the end of their lives. And I am still not sure whether Anneka was actually there for Drum or just in his imagination.
A book that will stay with me for a long time.
My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillian Picador for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Just brilliant. It is hard to see any book surpassing this once awards season comes along. Mr Evers really lets us get under the skin of his characters - and as a simple character driven novel this works very well. But what the author does with such confidence and aplomb is offer us a fascinating social history of two families. The period detail - even down to the dialogue - is perfect. I honestly cannot recommend this book highly enough. It was a real treat. Thankyou

I really did enjoy ‘The Blind Light’ by Stuart Evers and I think it will be nominated, if not win a literary prize or two but I think there was something missing. I understood the characters or Drum, Carter, Gwen and Nate but I was quite confused by Aneeka. I never really got why she ran away maybe I need to read it again. I did love the unique writing style of the book.

This is essentially a social history of the decades from the 1960s brought to life by following the fortunes of two families. of different social classes,the families contact begins with the friendship of two men during national service. The story follows their intertwining thereafter with the permanent background of class differences. The story brings back the fear caused by the Cuban crisis,nuclear standoff,IRA bombings. The two men marry,have families and keep in touch.The Ford motor worker with his estate owning friend becomes a farmer with his friend's help. Their children have the usual aspirations and disappointments. The book does not have an exciting story or a dramatic climax. The description of the families is mainly a way of giving enrichment to the social backcloth. It is well written and carefully researched.

I described this book as an epic feast of a book on social media. This was when I was only 50 or so pages in. And that description certainly holds true now that I have finished it.
I think we can sometimes get sucked in by “ couldn’t put it down” and “ read in one sitting” as though somehow this is the ultimate compliment you can give. I didn’t read this book quickly, nor wanted to. I wanted to savour the story, the writing, the characters, the plot.... and genuinely never wanted it to end.

From the 1950s through to the present day this tells the story of an unlikely, unbalanced and dysfunctional friendship between Drum and Carter.... and the relationship between Drum and his wife Gwen and the intertwining of their friendship, families and lives, Beginning from the men’s days as National Service conscripts the imbalance of power between the two men has lasting impacts for their families.

Powerful, yet tender. I will miss all of these characters greatly.

Stuart Evers’ latest book follows the friendship of two men - Drummond and Carter - through several decades, where the backdrop of the Atomic threat is used to frame an powerful and evocative story of love, friendship and betrayal which is never anything less than brilliant. Following Britain through subsequent ages and taking in world events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and 9/11, The Blind Light is superbly crafted, managing to be both epic and intimate in scale. I’m not often so blown away, but this novel deserves to be on all the lists, and win all the prizes.