Jun 24

Jun 24 Enlightenment

About the book

Author: Sarah Perry
Publisher: Mariner Books

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

Enlightenment was longlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, but the reception was pretty mixed. Its synopsis sounded right up my alley, so I was determined to come out at least neutral. Turns out I didn’t have to work too hard; I enjoyed my time with this deliberately, consciously slow-paced book about lives in orbit, love in all its forms, and what haunts us.

The story has two main characters: elderly Thomas Hart, a writer and closeted gay man; and Grace Macaughley, the only daughter of the pastor of the deeply traditional church in their tiny little rural town. Thomas and Grace have been friends for Grace’s whole life, but events come between them, as they are wont to do. The book jumps ahead twice, by 10 years each time. Oh, and also Thomas is bent on solving a mystery about the town ghost.

Here’s the thing: If you rush this, you will regret it, and it’s also not a book you can enjoy if you pick it up in the wrong headspace. This happened to many people in my book club (the casualties of reading a prizelist on a schedule!). You have to let it feel old-fashioned — it’s based on Sarah Perry’s childhood home and church, after all. You have to let it meander. You have to let it wonder at the stars and at love and at what God might mean to different people and whether ghosts are real. You have to dial in and go along for the ride. It’s certainly not a perfect book, but if you let it be what it is, I think you will enjoy it in the same way I did.