I really wanted to like this book but was put off by jumps in the narrative, switching between characters without any warning, confusion over characters, etc. I liked Drum, disliked Carter INTENSELY, but didn't quite understand why Drum allowed Carter to use him the way he did. I have read difficult books before, including Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce, which I enjoyed despite their density and stream of consciousness approaches. I had to work so hard to comprehend where this narrative was going. The "3" rating is for the attempt to demonstrate in prose form the disheaval and disruption of that time in history and how it effected people. Maybe the fault lies with me, the reader, rather than the writer of this book. I am writing this honest review in exchange for an ARC copy of the book.

Thanks, NetGalley and W. W. Norton for the ARC of this book. The writing style requires some getting used to. After several chapters, I could enjoy the book more. Though it still required an effort. The themes in the book are fascinating, and I looked forward to exploring them. However, the themes played out in a convoluted and disjointed way.

While the premise of story is intriguing, the execution left me quite bored. The writing was so obtuse that the characters fell flat for me. It is important for me to develop relationships with the main characters in a book. I found it very difficult to care about any of them in this book! I am sorry to say that I cannot recommend this book.

Story of a long-lasting friendship between two men, Drummond Moore and James Carter, who meet during their military service. They bond over shared experiences at Doom Town, a civil defense center that simulates situations related to nuclear war. They are from different classes and backgrounds. Drum works in a Ford factory near London. Carter is a wealthy landowner in northwest England. We follow their long-lasting friendship, relationships, marriages, and children from the late 1950s to the 2010s.

The plot is structured around worldwide events that induce fear, showing that just as one subsides, another takes over. The international events remain in the background, with the focus on the characters and their reactions. Evers brings fear down to the individual level. Carter and Drum plan to set up a bunker and stock it with end-of-civilization supplies. One of Drum’s primary motivations is keeping his family safe.

It is a slowly developing narrative. I enjoyed the literary writing style. The dialogue is particularly effective, though the prose is choppy in places. I appreciated the fictional news articles, inserted sporadically, that provide context for worldwide incidents and illuminate the characters’ stories from another perspective.
The premise of this book caught my attention. Evers examines fear, how it can permeate decisions, and the resulting harm to those we seek to protect. It seems like a pertinent topic for our times.

Spanning six decades, “The Blind Light” is about the unlikely friendship of two men, Drum and Jim; their family relationships; and the impact of war.

It’s also about fear and secrets.

Because this book spans six decades, it is LONG. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into it, and gave up several times. It takes quite a bit of concentration as it jumps around. I think it was a bit too fragmented for me.

Book Review for The Blind Light by Stuart Evers
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

Two young British soldiers meet at a military training center in 1959 that simulates the aftermath of an atomic strike. Carter is wealthy and privileged and a recent drop out from Oxford. Drummond is a quiet working class man. They form an unlikely friendship that spans decades through the Cuban Missile Crisis, 9-11 and the London bombings. Their class differences come into play multiple times in their lives. Drummond seems to do whatever Carter demands, and Carter seems to demand quite a bit from his “friend.” With the background of a nuclear war looming, there is a theme of fear throughout the book. We see them move on with their lives, get married, have children, and struggle with feelings of sadness and depression, all while worrying about safety and their futures.

Everyone in this book seems sad and defeated. The relationship between Carter and Drum is confusing. Why does Drum work so hard to keep this friendship going when Carter treats him like a servant and lower-class person? Carter uses Drum to make himself feel better, and Drum seems to know this and allows it to continue. Their wives and children suffer from their attitudes and actions. There are some relationship rifts that span years and don’t seem to be explained very well. I had difficulty connecting with the main characters and the story was slow moving. The author does have some wonderful descriptions and does develop some of the minor characters very well. I suppose it says something that I continued to think about these characters after I had finished reading this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Very clever writing with the type of staccato sentences that have become more popular lately. The settings and emotions are done well, drawing you in to everything that goes on in people's minds when events happen to change the course of their lives. Overall, my rating is purely on the fact that the writing style and ending is not my cup of tea.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a powerful novel about a pair of male frenemies who met during their stint in the service. The characters were realistic--a couple were dreadful, one pitiful, and others were relatable.

I love the ending.

I hate when this happens, I really do but I could not finish this book. To many great reads to get through and to little time. I found the story line of this book fairly drab. Along with the fragmented sentences and disjointed plot I just could bare it any longer.

This is a book that is difficult to rate. I rate it 5 stars for writing quality and construction but reduced it to 3 stars based on my personal experience and enjoyment while reading it. The Blind Light is an ambitious novel that spans many years and covers complicated relationships. The friendship between Drum and Carter is at the center of the novel but the story extends to their marriages, their children and to the parent-child relationships as well. The connection and re-connection of different characters (living and deceased) make this an interesting read. I compliment Evers on his writing and the weaving between past and present which is masterfully done. There are a lot of themes and topics explored in the novel but the broken child/parent relationship is really sad. It was also hard for me to embrace and understand. Even though Drum was an overbearing parent, he was also loving; this situation seems to exist often in real life and the relationship can still endure and continue in some way with love coming through. The complete break in Anneka and Drum's relationship was tragic and hard to accept. It seems like forgiveness comes from love and love would carry them through to some new understanding. Clearly this wasn't possible for them, but from the text of the novel I didn't see this, since the love shines through in her childhood memories. Another relationship that gave me pause is that of Gwen and Ray. From the pages describing their friendship, I did not pick up on a connection that would last throughout their lives. Nate is also an interesting character - exploring his sexuality and identity while working with his father. His character goes through a lot of change but he stays close to his parents throughout. There is so much to this book and a lot of relationships can be discussed. It would make a great book club selection. I admired the writing and the scope of the novel but maybe because I didn't relate to any particular character, or feel a deep connection to anyone, I couldn't enjoy it more.

Unfortunately this book was archived before I had the chance to download it. I am so bummed!! I will likely purchase it in the future and will update my review at that time. Thank you for granting me this book, my apologies that I was not able to review it.

A generational story from 1960s to present of a British upper and lower families toed toward in the aftermath of atomic warfare. Carter and Drummond meet and become friends in the army. Their wives and children become friends and eventually neighbors. The effects and treats of atomic warfare play a large part in all of their lives.

The ambitious novel is unsteady in the amount of details given. The first part of the book is very detailed on the army service of Carter and Drummond. Latter parts are not as detailed, often hard to understand the events, timing, and significance until the very end.

This was a bit to slow for me and so I didn’t enjoy it like I had hoped I would. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

The Blind Light by Stuart Evers is a book that follows two families from different social economic backgrounds. It spans over 60 years and there were parts of the book that seemed to be very slow paced for my liking. The relationships developed were the center and key to this book versus there being an actual plot.

The Blind Light by Stuart Evers is a massive undertaking encompassing 60 years from 1959 to 2019. It is the story of two unlikely friends and the years they share in England with family while the world expands, shifts and often explodes around them.

Carter and Drummond meet in the military in 1959 where they are assigned to "Doomtown". A make shift town that is a simulation for the aftermath of a nuclear war. This assignment haunts and follows them long after their military service is done. It also influences their responses to real life world events like The Cuban Missile Crisis, IRA bombings, the rise of ISIS, and 9/11.

The premise for this book fascinated me. The author strives to craft a narrative of how do we live our lives "normally" and maintain relationships while the world is often on edge and in chaos. The problem I had was with the relationships in the book.

Carter is from privilege and Drummond is from the working class. Carter never thinks Drummond is his equal and often treats him like a beloved servant. I did not understand why Drummond allowed this behavior. He wasn't scared of conflict. He had no problem walking a picket line and voicing his political views. Yet Carter was constantly insensitive and often cruel to him.

I appreciate the work and ambitiousness it took to research and bring this saga to life. I just struggled with not enjoying one of the main characters. Also, there was never any edge of the seat moments. Things happened, feelings were explained and we moved on to the next event. I never felt any urgency while reading this book.

I did enjoy the marriages, births, parenting issues and what I believe was a message that the blind light can be a light of blind hope and a belief that each day is a gift to enjoy.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley from the publisher for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

The writing is beautifully descriptive, the characters slowly pieced together, the perspective frequently changed. Although I found this book to be very well written, the development of the characters and plot was very slow. I kept referring to the synopsis to be sure I was following the story accurately.

I think that many people will enjoy this story. There is a lot of depth as the story picks up. It could be enjoyed as a slow burn.

Received this book from Netgalley. At first I wasn't enjoying it, but once I got into it, I loved the story & how the author wrote about their lives spanning into their children's. I enjoy reading about different things happening in the world at different times. By the end of thus book, I loved it.

"The Blind Light" is a multi-generational novel that is character driven with very little plot. If that sounds boring to you, then it probably is. I like these 'slower' paced books sometimes- I almost consider this a 'lazy' read- I recommend it as something that can easily be set down and picked back up, mostly because there isn't a lot of action.

The story follows Drummond "Drum" and his friend, Carter, as young soldiers in the late 1950's in Britain that are trained to prepare for post-nuclear war. The two form an unlikely and unequal friendship that affects all of their personal relationships.

At 500+ pages, "The Blind Light" felt like it was dragging at times (lots of repetition). Yet, there were a lot of beautiful moments and a lot of material that would make for a great book club discussion.
Since I am not part of a book club, if you've read this book and read my review, I have a question that I would love to hear people's thoughts on: Do you think the relationship of Drum and Carter is typical of a friendship between someone who is privileged versus someone who isn't?

Thank you Netgalley and W.W. Norton and Company for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. "The Blind Light" was published on October 13th, and is now available (yay!)