A Ladder to the Sky

Praise for A Ladder to the Sky: "Boyne’s fast-paced, white-knuckle plot, accompanied by delightfully sardonic commentary on the ego, insecurities, and pitfalls of those involved in the literary world, makes for a truly engrossing experience." – Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Boyne expertly explores notions of originality and authorship through multiple first-person accounts of the despicable Swift. As a result, his latest novel is absorbing, horrifying, and recommended.” – Library Journal (starred review) “An all-consuming ambition to be a successful writer drives a young man down unusual paths to literary acclaim in this compelling character study…. Boyne‘s singular villain and well-sustained tension merit a good audience.” – Kirkus (starred review) "Maurice Swift, the novelist protagonist of John Boyne’s A Ladder to the Sky, is a bookish version of Patricia Highsmith’s psychopathic antihero Tom Ripley." – The Times (London) "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." – The Observer "A dark morality tale in the mold of Patricia Highsmith . . . consistently intriguing." – Daily Mail “As a study in the self-rationalizing ‘ethics’ of a psychopath, this book is fascinating. As a story, it is horrifically plausible.” – The Sunday Independent "A riot of a read… An author at the top of his game who knows exactly what he wants to say.” – The Sunday Times “Irresistibly readable and darkly funny.” – The Irish Independent Selected Praise for The Heart‘s Invisible Furies by John Boyne: “By turns whimsical and heartbreaking, Boyne’s sprawling novel treads Dickensian territory across seven decades of Irish history, ending with a redemption for both a country and a native son.” – People "A big, sweeping novel...Cyril’s intelligent, witty voice takes us all the way through to the end of his life. The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a brilliant, moving history of an Irishman, and of modern Ireland itself.” – Minneapolis Star Tribune “A picaresque, lolloping odyssey for the individual characters and for the nation that confines them…The book blazes with anger as it commemorates lives wrecked by social contempt and self‑loathing…. a substantial achievement.” – The Guardian “An epic full of verve, humour and heart… sure to be read by the bucketload… deeply cinematic [and] extremely funny.” – The Irish Times “This is nothing less than the story of Ireland over the past 70 years, expressed in the life of one man…highly entertaining and often very funny…Big and clever.” – The Times Sunday Review "Bleak, bittersweet, and Irish to the bone... explore[s] the relationship between Catholicism and patriarchy in midcentury Ireland and beyond." – O, The Oprah Magazine “The most inviting and completely spellbinding book this author has ever written...an outstandingly memorable achievement.” – Christian Science Monitor “More than a coming-of-age story, The Heart’s Invisible Furies is one man’s journey from persecution to toleration." – BookPage