A Ladder to the Sky - John Boyne
What if you wanted nothing more in life than to be a novelist, but, no matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn’t generate an idea for a novel? What lengths would you go to in order to make your dream a reality?
These are the questions John Boyne explores in A Ladder to the Sky, a brilliantly dark and witty novel–a stark contrast from the heartwarming The Heart’s Invisible Furies. The novel’s protagonist, Maurice Swift will stop at nothing to achieve his goal of being a literary immortal, but rather than simply being ruthless in his attempt to reach the top, he is complex and cunning.
A Ladder to the Sky is told through the eyes of three characters who encounter Maurice as he stops at nothing to achieve literary fame; it’s an interesting device, as we learn about the terrible things Swift does through those that he charms and callously cons. It’s not until the end of the novel we finally hear from Swift himself, and his voice does not disappoint.
Only the second Boyne novel I’ve read after Furies, I very much enjoyed this change of pace, and I look forward to reading more of his work.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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