Breezy ... As the novel zips along—there are lively depictions of the Blitz, plenty of sex and a rom-com’s worth of flirtatious patter—Mr. Spufford’s reasons for withholding information about the science-fiction conceit become clearer.
Wizardly ... The novel fairly cackles with glee at its capacity to summon excitement from all corners of time and space ... Does what few time-travel fantasies do: It laughs about the pleasure that can be had once we grant ourselves the power to change history. At the same time, however, it asks questions, as all time-travel novels do, about who gets to tinker with time, and who lives at its mercy ... And yet, in the midst of this novel’s happy freedom, I still felt constraint ... Is Iris a woman, or is she a type? ... Iris may be a heroine who has figured out how to travel in time, but somehow here we all are, face to face again with history.
Radiant ... Spufford, a vivid stylist, wants the reader to feel and smell and hear what it was like to live in the city during wartime ... Most time-travel novels, because they mess with the sequence of cause and effect, have intricate, puzzlelike storylines that tend to shortchange their characters. Nonesuch, by contrast, suggests a new use for this by-now-familiar plot device—not simply as a thought experiment about the course of history, but as a more intimate crucible.
The novel is a pleasing pasticcio of romance, occultism, non-Euclidean geometry and airborne adventure across the blitz-stricken rooftops of London. It is difficult to imagine it would hold together quite so well in other hands than Spufford’s ... Dazzling ... A formidable achievement, a popcorny delight of a novel – and those who agree will be pleased by an ending that hints we’ve plenty more to come from Spufford’s fantasy multiverse.
Very enjoyable ... The more fantastical elements of the novel can be a little hard to follow – even for Spufford himself, who doesn’t seem to have made up his mind whether the time traveller, having changed the past, is able to remember that they have done so. Such inconsistencies are frustrating in a novel that relies on complex rules of magic. But while the wilder plot points can feel a little silly, Spufford reconstructs London at war with fabulous, awful detail.
A very bookish sort of book ... It’s a story that shakes together different genres and creates something wholly new from them: a romantic fantasy that contains meaty dollops of sex; a time-travelling adventure that is seamed with Keynesian economics.
The novel begins as a vividly realistic account of the beginnings of the war ... The balance of historical realism and fantasy is handled with a degree of mastery and attention to detail that is far more convincing than it probably ought to be – and that suggests further complications to come.
The novel unfolds at a leisurely pace but tension mounts and the story eventually concludes in a cliff-hanger. Spufford paints a portrait of an embattled London that suffers relentless bombing and destruction, its survival dependent upon the actions of a flawed and complex anti-heroine.
Rich period detail, an unhurried narrative pace and a fascination with moments when the familiar world becomes transformed. Spufford’s prose is at once deeply committed to the enjoyment of actualities and fascinated by what lies beyond sight or easy understanding; his imagination is a powerful compound of secular and religious elements ... That said, the sheer strangeness of the story told in Nonesuch sets it apart from the rest of Spufford’s work ... The distinction of his book is that it conveys by all manner of means the pleasures of finding the unexpected within the predictable.
Combines a canny understanding of character, a thoughtful historicity and a delightful sense of the fantastical ... Equal parts stunning historical fiction and daring fantasy, Nonesuch is a remarkable journey into the imagination of a brilliant writer.
Starts out as a delight ... Where the story ends, however, is both darker and deeper, making for a thought-provoking and surprisingly poignant read ... Part All the Light We Cannot See and part A Wrinkle in Time, this hybrid narrative laces romantic adventure with a bit of horror, the supernatural, and mathematical derring-do ... Lushly layered ... It is worth noting that Nonesuch trips up at its end ... Otherwise highly enjoyable.
Ambitious ... The more fantastic elements of the story feel overworked. Spufford conjures up an inspiring climax and suggests a sequel—one that hopefully approaches the material with a lighter touch. A magical, clever, sometimes convoluted reimagining of London under attack.
