The Blind Light

Reviews / Votes

A thoughtful and powerful study of the corrosive effects of fear, the damage we do to ourselves and our loved ones when danger is all we can see . . . disconcertingly timely * Guardian * A panoramic novel of modern Britain . . . extraordinary * Spectator * The Blind Light reads like a British Don DeLillo, telling the social history of Britain through two generations of a family -- Alex Preston, <i>Observer</i> Engrossing . . . A terrific book -- Samira Ahmed, BBC Radio 4 Evers excels in his close examination of relationships . . . the complicated nature of guilt and loss is beautifully handled . . . an absorbing read * Irish Independent * Powerfully imagined . . . multi-threaded, unflinching, and visceral * TLS * A shrewd, timely novel * New York Times * A spellbinding family history, encompassing the personal and the political * The Tablet * Rivals the work of American greats such as Bellow and Franzen * The Week * Evers's book is a widescreen family saga that examines, among other things, the effect of the nuclear threat during the Cold War on the British psyche . . . it's absorbing - and uncannily timed in its perversely consoling sense of how crises come and go * Daily Mail * The Blind Light is a page-perfect and impeccably structured portrait of Britain's troubled, post-nuclear generations . . . Evers has written a powerful and affecting novel which excels at being as true to Family and the personal as it is to Nation and the universal, a rare and potent combination -- Jim Crace, author of <i>Harvest</i> One is taken both by the breadth of vision and the depth of character on offer in Evers' stunning The Blind Light . . . This is an achievement to be admired and, frankly, envied. My hat is off -- Laird Hunt A thoroughly absorbing novel which illuminates the nature of friendship and family while offering a compelling portrait of Britain. I loved it -- Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of <i>The Last Act of Love</i> Extraordinarily intense, and intensely well written, the echoes of our current situation are uncomfortably close at hand. A complex and powerful novel -- Lissa Evans, author of <i>Old Baggage</i> and <i>Crooked Heart</i> A social history told through 2 generations of the same family. Beautiful & funny & moving. And a hugely hopeful read for our strange new world -- Sarah Franklin, author of <i>Shelter</i> The Blind Light is staged on a far grander scale than its predecessor. Submerged currents from the cold war guide the plotline . . . [Lyrical but precise descriptions] are the moments when The Blind Light shines most brightly * Financial Times * A sprawling, absorbing, epic crossing generations * Cumbria Life * Subtle and sombre . . . Love, luck, debts and domestic life play out against a historical backdrop that takes in the Cuban Missile Crisis, strikes, civil unrest and the rise of rave culture * Sunday Express *