The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Spufford, Francis. Light Perpetual. First Edition. Scribner, An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2021. Hardcover.

Spufford frames the novel in seven sections, each labelled in the jargon of a rocket launch (i.e., "t + x: year"). These sections contain sub-chapters that are titled for the character of focus: Vernon Taylor, Alec Torrance, Ben Holcombe, Jo, and Val. Each chapter begins in media res of a day in the life of these characters.

The novel begins moments before the rocket blast in the fictional London borough of Bexford. This first chapter is brief and consists primarily of a 3rd-person narrator musing on the nature of time. The reader is introduced to Vern, Alec, Ben, Jo, and her sister Val, who are all in the vicinity of the rocket when it bursts. The chapter ends with the narrator inviting the reader to imagine if the rocket was never fired, and the children continued to live.

The novel resumes five years later in 1949. Jo, Val, Alec, and Vern are coming into school from recess to begin singing lessons. Jo shows a talent and an affinity for singing, Val appears more interested in boys than singing, Vern seems to appreciate singing but is quite bad at it, and Alec shows himself to be a troublemaker when he mocks the headmaster. Spufford also depicts a day in the life of Ben in 1949. Ben goes to a pub to watch a soccer game with his father. Ben observes the hectic behavior of the men in the pub and seems disoriented, almost oblivious to the game they are all watching. The chapter ends with Ben’s dad telling him, “I thought you’d enjoy it more” (26).

The novel resumes in 1964; the next five chapters each detail a day in the life of one of the characters. The first of these chapters depicts Alec, who is now married and has an infant son, in a bar, interviewing for a job as a Linotype typist for a newspaper. Alec seems to still have a caustic attitude, reminiscent of his behavior during the singing lesson. The next chapter follows Val, who is going to the beach with a crowd a few years younger than her. She is going on a date with a boy named Alan, but sees another man named Mike. Mike gives her what appears to be LSD and later in the chapter she gives him oral sex. The next chapter depicts Vern in a posh restaurant with a young soccer player named Joe McLeish. The narration suggests Vern’s superficiality and his clear desire to get rich quickly at any cost. Vern successfully, though after much effort, gets McLeish to sign papers to endorse Vern’s upstart real-estate enterprise.

Ben is the character of focus in the next chapter, which begins in a psych ward. His thoughts are quite blurred, and it becomes apparent that he is medicated on Largactil for schizophrenia; he refers to the voice in his head as “The Trouble.” The chapter ends with Ben being led to an exam room, where medical students offer various diagnoses for his symptoms. The last chapter set in 1964 depicts Jo, backstage at the Pelican Club, about to perform with a band. She listens attentively to the current act and is visibly annoyed when the members of a boy band, The Bluebirds, come near her and listen to the performer as well, offering various cliched utterances of appreciation and understanding of the music. In her head, Jo muses about making her own music, before going onstage to sing backup vocals. She notices one of the boys in the band listening attentively to her performance.

The novel resumes in 1979, with Ben at work as a London bus driver (N.B. he is not driving the bus, but is a conductor of sorts, collecting money for tickets). His discomfort in public is apparent, and he continuously fights with a voice in his head. At one point, he almost gets into a fight with a skinhead after he accidentally speaks to the voice in his aloud. The next chapter follows a day in the life of Alec, beginning with him in his apartment with his family. Before going to work, Alec goes to talk to his teenage son, Gary, about applying to school or learning a trade; Gary quickly tells him to go away, though. Once at work at the Times, Alec attends a meeting with other mid-level employees. There is political strife in his office and Alec fears he will lose his job as a compositor. The next chapter focuses on Jo, who now lives in California. She is a musician and is on her way to a restaurant to meet other musicians with whom she is working on a record. When she arrives at the restaurant, Jo talks with Ricky, who was the boy from The Bluebirds who attentively listened to her perform. She muses in her head about their sexual history during the dinner. The group then goes to the studio to work on a song. Jo and Ricky are poised to work on one of Jo’s original songs, but Ricky is reminded that he needs to work on his song, which they proceed to do.

The next chapter begins with Vern getting kicked out of his home by his soon-to-be ex-wife, Kath, as his two daughters, Becky and Sally, watch. His affairs are in disorder, and his real-estate business has failed. Vern attempts to begin a new business venture that day and goes knocking on doors to get investors. Coincidentally, Vern knocks on Alec’s door; Alec recognizes him and welcomes him into his apartment, but Vern soon leaves, unable to share his feelings. The next chapter follows Val, tending to her neo-Nazi husband, Mike. She goes along with Mike and his gang as they walk about London through the day. Val notices how much younger most of the gang is, and her interior musings reveal how disinterested she is with her current situation. The gang goes to a nightclub to listen to music; they make an uproar when they notice one of the musicians is Black. The chapter ends with Mike and Val walking at night; Mike sees what appears to be an Indian man. He proceeds to beat the man to death, as Val helplessly watches.

The novel resumes in 1994. The first of these chapters focuses on Ben, who is now married to a woman named Marsha. Ben’s schizophrenia is seemingly non-existent, and he seems to have found peace in Marsha’s orderly lifestyle and strong Christian faith. Ben and Marsha go to Sunday services; the pastor’s sermon addresses the struggles people must face to preserve their peace of mind and stability. After the service, Ben and Marsha return to their home, where they prepare a lunch for Marsha’s family. There is a normal degree of family tension during the lunch, but this soon dissipates, and the chapter ends with Ben talking with Marsha’s sons. Val is the character of focus in the next chapter, which begins with her answering a distress call; she works for Samaritans, which is like a suicide-hotline. She tries to calm down the caller, Angela, who explains that she unwittingly allowed her second husband to molest her daughter, with whom she has no relationship now. To console Angela, Val tells her about her own troubles; she tells Angela that she went to prison briefly as accessory to Mike’s murder of the Pakistani man. Val takes a few more calls (which are not described in much detail) and the chapter ends with Val talking to Father Tim, who also takes calls for Samaritans.

The next chapter begins with Vern at the opera. He is apparently quite wealthy and content to live as a bachelor. He gorges upon food and speaks rudely to the people next to him. Despite his affinity for singing, Vern becomes quite sad during a moment of the performance and cannot determine why. The chapter concludes with him leaving the opera angrily. The next chapter depicts Jo, who has moved back to London and is now a music teacher for Year 10s. She is married to another teacher at the school, Claude. Their son, Marcus, is a student at the school as well. She gives a lesson about the anatomy of singing and prompts the class to sing through various pitches. Between Jo’s internal thoughts and the 3rd-person narration, this chapter focuses on the passing of youth. The last chapter set in 1994 focuses on Alec. Alec is now a painter for Gary’s company, but this is his last day; he is soon to begin teaching. After work, Alec goes home where he sees his wife, Sandra, and a man named Tony (it is unclear who Tony is, but it appears he is somehow related to Gary’s wife). Sandra leaves with Tony, and Alec spends the afternoon with his granddaughter, Vicky. While with Vicky, Alec reflects on losing his job years back, and he begins to wonder if Sandra is having an affair with Tony.

The penultimate section is set in 2009, and the ensuing chapters are the last the reader sees of the characters. The first chapter depicts Vern with his daughter, Becky. Vern has had a triple-bypass, and his last business venture has failed. Becky has since taken him into her home. They go to a VIP lounge to watch a soccer game. Coincidentally, Joe McLeish is a guest speaker during halftime. He recognizes Vern and the two soon begin to argue, at which point Vern and Becky leave the game. Becky tells Vern she will put him in a nursing home. The next chapter follows Alec, who has had a successful career teaching at and managing a school. He has also remarried a woman named Priya. Alec goes to a wedding reception where he sees his sons and ex-wife, Sandra, who has remarried Tony. Family tension is apparent, and Alec learns that Vicky has become bulimic. The chapter concludes with Alec talking to Sandra about what he perceives to be failures in his life. Jo and Val are the focus of the next chapter, which begins with Jo leaving a nursing home where she is visiting Claude, who has dementia. Jo returns to her apartment, which she shares with Val, and finds Val listening to music with her son, Marcus, and his boyfriend, Lucius. They listen to a song Marcus has made with a sample of one of Jo’s unreleased originals, and the chapter ends with Jo singing along with her recording, feeling a connection to her younger self. The last chapter in this section depicts Ben in hospice, in the moments of dying. The narration is distorted as it follows Ben’s thoughts, which are heavily affected by morphine. He reflects on his life in Bexford, in general terms, and in his final moments, Ben offers praise to various types people, from the most moral to the most degenerate. The final section, “t + ∞,” consists solely of the words, “Come, dust.”