A Ladder to the Sky
A Ladder to the Sky charts the destructive path of Maurice Swift, an ambitious aspiring novelist. As a talented wordsmith, he knows he has the ability to polish any story to perfection — but where will he find the plot to use as his foundation?
Working as a waiter in a Berlin hotel, Maurice has a chance encounter with Erich Ackermann, a prize-winning writer who is instantly attracted to Maurice’s youthful charm. Their brief friendship will change both their lives forever — catapulting Maurice to international fame while thoroughly destroying Erich’s reputation.
Written with Boyne’s sharp wit, compelling characters, and page-turning twists, A Ladder to the Sky is the fascinating portrait of a true literary villain.
Quote:
“I longed to write a new novel, of course, to get back in the game, but the old problem that has plagued my life since my teenage years reared its head once again. I changed city, social groups and daily routine in the vain hope that this might produce a good idea, but none came. My creative abilities remained in abeyance. I wrote a book that even I could tell was hopeless and it was rejected by my publisher during a highly unpleasant face-to-face encounter, where I may have behaved in a manner ill suited to a man of my accomplishments [...] For a time, I feared that I was finished. The greatest writer of his generation, stalled for lack of an original thought. Really, I should have had more self-belief. If I’d learned nothing else since leaving Yorkshire at the end of the 1980s, it was that, like the proverbial cat, I had the habit of landing on my feet.”
Author:
John Boyne is the author of books for both children and adults, including The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Heart's Invisible Furies, A History of Loneliness, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, and A Ladder to the Sky. Born in Dublin, Boyne also writes regular book reviews for The Irish Times.
Published: 2018
Length: 366 pages
Main Settings: London and Norwich, England; New York City, New York, U.S.
Secondary Settings: Berlin, Germany; Amalfi Coast, Italy