Another absolutely terrific novel from Francis Spufford, who manages to write a completely different every time while maintaining an exceptionally high standard of prose and form. Especially impressive is his ability to write two female characters who could so easily be stereotypes and make them full fleshed. I didn't know going in that this was the first in a series but I am already desperate for the next installment.

Francis Spufford is always terrific: I'm not sure that this is my absolute favourite of his novels, but it's very good and also very entertaining (two things that don't always go together). I got slightly confused by some of the fantasy elements - for my money it's Spufford's prose style that holds his work together (I also loved the way he quietly deflates the grandiloquent claims to 'Blitz spirit' that are so common now, pointing out just how tired and how self-serving everyone became). There are links and echoes, here, to Light Perpetual too. I want the next one...

This is such an interesting and fun read. It is emotional at times and at other points I fully burst out laughing on the train. The magic system was fully established and realistic and the discussion of economic theories was an intriguing insight into an area of WW2 that I haven’t really considered.

This is the Francis Spufford of Golden Hill: erudite, adventurous, strong characters and fascinating social history all expertly served up in gorgeous prose. I savoured this novel, rooted for our protagonist Iris, and ended up with several browser tabs open as I wanted to follow-up all the historical references. I had never really thought too deeply before about what it must've been like in London during the Blitz - the sleeplessness, the ruins, the raids, the relentlessness of it all alongside the demands of ordinary life - but this book really made me see it. Not least, how dark it would have been in the blackout, and how people would have needed to get used to that (and the workarounds they developed for dealing with it). I was struck by the demographic changes too, summarisd by the higher pitch of public crowds - because female voices now outnumbered male ones. The insights into wartime finance and the stockmarket also had me gripped, and I never thought that finance could grip me! A fantastic five-stars - I will think of this book each time I'm in the City.

What an amazing coming together of history, fantasy, Masonic mysteries and other-worldly adventures. These ingredients don’t sound like they could ever work together in the same story, but they really do.
The story got more exciting and involved as it went on and it scooped me up and carried me along at full speed. Transported across the rooftops of London while the city below burned from the nazi planes dropping bombs around me; it felt like a full speed adventure into the most unbelievable happenings and I absolutely loved it. I really hope there’s a sequel soon. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!