A Ladder to the Sky

Author: John Boyne
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQ
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 366
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Hogarth Press
First Published: Nov 13, 2018
Opening Lines: "West Berlin - From the moment I accepted the invitation, I was nervous about returning to Germany. It had been so many years since I'd last been there, after all, that it was difficult to know what memories might be stirred up by my return."

Book Description from GoodReads: The new novel from the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Heart's Invisible Furies, a seductive Highsmithian psychodrama following one brilliant, ruthless man who wills top at nothing in his pursuit of fame.

Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for success. The one thing he doesn't have is talent - but he's not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don't need to be his own. 

Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful - but desperately lonely - older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice's first novel.


Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall.

My Rating: 3 stars

My Review: Going into this book, I knew I had high expectations since Boyne's previous book, The Heart's Invisible Furies, easily became one of my all-time favourite reads. As soon as A Ladder to the Sky's publication date was released, I got my hands on a copy. I wanted to, and expected to, enjoy this book but it fell short for me.

There are several things I enjoyed about A Ladder to the Sky. The writing is strong, the premise about the dark and manipulative ambition of a calculating sociopath was interesting and I enjoyed how the story is told via various characters who Maurice manipulates. But the lack of emotional intensity and connection to the characters, a few of whom felt one-dimensional, greatly influenced my experience with this book.

I also had issues with Maurice, a sociopath who readers are expected to believe can get away with all sorts of immoral, malicious choices due to his fantastic good looks. Things just seemed to work out for him too easily and it didn't help that he lacked a redeeming quality I could hold on to. Just when I thought he had one, I was proven wrong.

While I liked getting a glimpse into the life of an author and the literary world, the plot felt predictable and I didn't feel invested in Maurice's life. That said, I remain a fan of John Boyne even though this book didn't quite reach the sky for this reader.