Shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award 2021

A New York Times Top 10 Historical Novel of 2020

As the 1950s draw to a close, and the Cold War escalates, the shape of Drummond Moore’s life is changed beyond measure when he strikes up an unlikely friendship with James Carter, a rich and well-connected fellow National Serviceman. Carter leads him to Doom Town – an Army base that seeks to recreate the effects of a nuclear war – where he meets Gwen, a barmaid with whom he shares an instant connection. These unforeseen events have dramatic aftershocks that reverberate for generations.

Set over sixty years of British history, The Blind Light is the compelling story of one family as they deal with the personal and political fallout of their times, and one that builds to a devastating conclusion.

‘Reads like a British Don DeLillo, telling the social history of Britain through two generations of a family’ Observer

‘Rivals the work of American greats such as Bellow and Franzen’ The Week

‘A terrific book’  Samira Ahmed, BBC Radio 4

‘A panoramic novel of modern Britain . . . extraordinary’  Spectator

 ‘Atmospheric . . . powerfully imagined . . . multi-threaded, unflinching, and visceral’ TLS