Crime fiction set in WYOMING and MONTANA
A novel of several parts set mainly around EUROPE
20th April 2026
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, novel of several parts set around Europe.
#fromourbookshelves
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is by John Boyne and I am sure many people have read this novel and been struck by the powerful theme and tremendous writing. This is the second novel that I have read by this author and the skilled writing is consummate. Yet the storyline drove me almost to give up on several occasions. A Ladder to the Sky was first published back in hardback, in 2018 and rave reviews abound from that period, but I wonder whether in the interim – between publication and present day – society’s values have undergone a significant change, and what felt edgy and acceptable then, just feels unappetising now.
There are several sections in the novel, linked by the increasingly nefarious actions of one Maurice Swift.
The novel opens when Swift is working at the Savoy Hotel in Berlin 1988, so, just before the fall of the Wall. He has a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann, a much older and very lonely man. After a few meetings, Ackermann engages him as his personal assistant on a book tour to various cities, and Swift meticulously takes notes about the book tour and forges potentially useful connections. He also adroitly extracts a long-held secret from Ackermann, which he goes on to use as the basis for his first novel. It is such a terrible reveal that Ackermann gets cancelled when Swift’s book is published. This, of course, is a prescient parallel because the author himself ran into trouble when his novella “Earth” was long-listed for the 2025 Polari Prize and, due to views he was perceived to hold, there was a terrible backlash and several authors withdrew their work. The Prize was consequently cancelled in 2025.
The story follows Swift through his life as he insinuates himself into the high echelons of the literary world, feasting off others (including his wife) to produce books that, at heart, exploit the competencies of those around him. A leech, in other words and someone who knowingly exploits others for his own ends. Yes, unpleasant, yes, echoes of Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley but overall lacking the latter’s honed and compelling character traits that still draw readers in today. There is humour to lighten the cold-blooded elements but, you know, it’s wasn’t enough to really engage me. It was also irritating that his German character referred to Mischlings when it should have been Mischlinge.
For sure, this is a satirical take on the world of publishing, with a morally manipulative antihero at its heart, who just never gives up, forever hoping that his work will seen worthy of The Prize – THE literary prize – that would firmly place his name in the annals of publishing history. All kudos to Swift for never losing sight of his goal. It is the path he chooses to get there that I found overly challenging and at times dispiriting and downright off-putting.
Setting is fairly strong on limited occasions.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
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