The latest news and reviews of author Francis Spufford
September 2023
Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford review – a ‘what if’ classic
The writer’s alternative history – a thriller set in a 1920s US with a huge and thriving Native American population – underlines the range and power of his imagination
September 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 novels that interrupt time
Most stories adhere to linear plots, but a select few – by authors from Martin Amis to Muriel Spark and Toni Morrison – respin the cogs to unforgettable effect
February 2022
Books interview
Francis Spufford: ‘I felt that to call myself a writer would be a boast’
The author of Light Perpetual on a childhood spent hiding in books, dropping a V2 on a fictional London borough and giving up church politics
July 2021
Booker prize reveals globe-spanning longlist of ‘engrossing stories’
Kazuo Ishiguro makes cut alongside Rachel Cusk and Richard Powers, and novels from Sri Lanka and South Africa compete with choices from the US and UK
February 2021
Francis Spufford: 'I’m still angry about what has been done to this country'
The Golden Hill author talks about the family tragedy that fed his love of reading, being a middle-class socialist and why he’s trying to ‘scuff off’ the period glow of historical fiction
January 2021
Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford review – a brilliant, capacious experiment with fiction
Book of the week
Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford review - both a requiem and a giving of new life
February 2020
Beyond Mantel: the historical novels everyone must read
From Francis Spufford to Sarah Waters, contemporary writers have brought new complexity and playfulness to historical fiction
December 2019
From The Big Short to Normal People: the books that defined the decade
It began with the fallout from the global financial meltdown and ended with two women sharing the Booker. Which titles shaped the last 10 years?
March 2019
Books blog
Narnia for ever: the internet age demands a copyright rethink
Adam Roberts
Francis Spufford pens unauthorised Narnia novel
November 2017
Books that made me
Francis Spufford: ‘I read Walter Scott to myself – in my pathetic imitation of a Border-Scots accent’
The author on his campaign to read all Ali Smith, repeated failed attempts to tackle Proust and his shame about Shakespeare’s Sonnets
July 2017
The Guardian view on historical fiction: reimagining, not reproducing
Editorial: A once-disparaged genre has found new life thanks to Hilary Mantel and others. But what do we want from it?
