Days of Light by Megan Hunter

From an almost perfect Easter Sunday in 1938 with good weather, a family gathering in a beautiful country home in south Sussex, to a tragedy on that day, the story shows how one pivotal event affects those close to them. Spanning six decades, this tale is about loss, longing and the hope of resurrection.

This is the story of Ivy, a teenage girl who lives with her creative family of artists and writers although she doesn't share any of these skills despite trying her hand at them. She is close to her charming and clever brother who invites his friend and his new girlfriend to the Easter dinner. Ivy is drawn to both and the connection lasts a lifetime. We follow her life through six more Easters several years apart until 1999.

A poetic and intimate narrative with a rather tragic and passive protagonist, this is a book that needs to be read slowly in order to absorb the artistic merit. The light motif runs throughout and is apparent in the descriptions of the sunlight as it hits majestic buildings, for example, but mainly it is expressed through spirituality. The plot is straightforward and drops off after the first Easter into mundane living, where the focus is on longing and feeding the soul. Here is where the reader can revel in the author's skills to see the art in the ordinary.

Moving and incandescent,  this novel is a work of art in itself.

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Published by Pan Macmillan Picador on 17 April 2025.
​Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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