Spufford was inspired to write the novel after walking by a plaque commemorating the deaths of the 168 people who died during the attack.
The novel follows twin sisters Jo and Val as well as their classmates Vernon, Ben and Alec, exploring their lives in 15 year intervals beginning in 1949 and ending in 2009.
In an imaginary future in which the attack did not happen children Jo, Val, Alec, Ben and Vern grow up in Bexford, a suburb of London.
After years of being strung along by Ricky she moves back to London to be with her sister and falls in love with an American man and has a late-in-life child.
Val is imprisoned as an accessory to the murder and slowly rebuilds her life, eventually realizing that Mikey, her husband, was gay and his racism and aggression were attempts to deny this part of himself.
Vern spends most of his life dreaming of climbing up the property ladder, scamming whoever crosses his path in order to achieve his ends.