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A Ladder to the Sky

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A Ladder to the Sky

By: John Boyne
Narrated by: Richard E. Grant, Laurence Kennedy, Richard Cordery, Nina Sosanya
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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, read by Richard E. Grant, Richard Cordery, Nina Sosanya and Laurence Kennedy.

A psychological drama of cat and mouse, A Ladder to the Sky shows how easy it is to achieve the world if you are prepared to sacrifice your soul.

If you look hard enough, you can find stories pretty much anywhere. They don’t even have to be your own. Or so would-be writer Maurice Swift decides very early on in his career.

A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann gives him an opportunity to ingratiate himself with someone more powerful than him. For Erich is lonely, and he has a story to tell. Whether or not he should do so is another matter entirely.

Once Maurice has made his name, he sets off in pursuit of other people’s stories. He doesn’t care where he finds them – or to whom they belong – as long as they help him rise to the top.

Stories will make him famous but they will also make him beg, borrow and steal. They may even make him do worse.

©2018 John Boyne (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Scary Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

"A deliciously dark tale of ambition, seduction and literary theft . . . compelling and terrifying, powerful and intensely unsettling. In Maurice Swift, Boyne has given us an unforgettable protagonist, dangerous and irresistible in equal measure. The result is an ingeniously conceived novel that confirms Boyne as one of the most assured writers of his generation." (Hannah Beckerman)

"Everything the wonderful Irish novelist John Boyne writes is special...a highly entertaining read" (Jake Kerridge)
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Another superb John Boyne novel. Great reading by Richard E. Grant. Not quite as goof as The Heart’s Invisible Furies - but almost!

Superb

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this is a very well written book. If you like "The Good Liar", you'll love this!

Great story.

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I loved everything about this book. I have read many of John Boyne’s books he is by far my favourite author. This is an excellent read and although sad in places the last paragraph had me smiling!

Excellent you must read this

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Love John Boyne & Loved this book,brilliant main character, so horrible Narcissistic but intriguing.such a great story,kept me gripped,great narration. When I finished it I felt like I wanted to read it all over again.

Fantastic! Loved it.

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This is my third John Boyle book in a row. This was a very original. I enjoyed it immensely and I highly recommend it!

A great read!

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A great read with strong characters and a compelling storyline. The narrators do it justice with their performances.

Brilliant plot and performances

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I loved this. The third John Boyne I've listened to and so far easily the most inventive and intriguing; really drawing in - and that's saying something when the other two were The Heart's Invisible Furies and A History of Loneliness.
I felt something like a horrified fascination with the central character, which got deeper and deeper, with his monstrousness even bettered at one point by one of the more minor characters who seemed placed there to horrify even further. Bravo! I liked also the phasing of the four parts and the deliberately self-questioning, inward-looking jokiness that I thought I could read into it, and the nods to other authors/genres. Or is that simply John's inventiveness at play?

Fascinating... literally

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I love his characterisation and the way everything always links together. Excellent at creating heinous but strangely relatable characters.

Another great John Boyle

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This book is excellent. It’s my first JB book and there will be more to follow.

Brilliant

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I adore John Boyne’s writing. He really is quite brilliant. The first fifth of this book confirms that in spades... But then the novel deviates into such silly, unbelievable territory that the beautiful writing feels like it’s serving a woefully poor plot. The central character is devilishly wonderful however and you’re forced to read on just to discover how it all ends for him.

Stunning start which descends onto silliness

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