The Night Climbers
By (Author) Ivo Stourton
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Black Swan
1st November 2008
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.92
Paperback
384
Width 127mm, Height 198mm, Spine 23mm
251g
Reminiscent of Donna Tartt, a circle of friends at Cambridge form a private club that scales the university colleges by night, until one day they take their daredevil activities one step too far . . . James, a first-year student at Cambridge, is overwhelmed by the thrill of opportunity and startled by his own hunger for friendship. He finds himself seduced by a covert and exclusive circle of friends - the 'Tudor Night Climbers' - who scale the university's turrets after dark, transforming it into a dangerous playground of spiralling heights.When still only a novice member of his tribe, James begins to fall for the only female in the group, the enigmatic and beautiful Jessica, and is soon at the heart of a fatal love triangle with the reckless and charismatic leader of the group, Francis. When a volatile relationship finally explodes, the Night Climbers' funding suddenly dries up, until Francis dreams up a heist that will secure them millions, but will also test their very souls.Partly inspired by the original 'Night Climbers' of the Sixties who famously made dare-devil leaps from college roofs, this passionate exploration of youth at its most vital and unstable marks the debut of a strikingly gifted new writer.
Lapped up The Secret History Then this one's for you . . . Stourton can really write . . . his next move will certainly be worth watching. * Independent on Sunday *
An amazingly accomplished debut . . . the writing is elegant, the story decadent. * Observer *
I love this book. So exhilarating, authentic and vivid. It made me want to become a Cambridge student all over again. * Nicholas Coleridge *
Tightly sprung and compulsively readable * Literary Review *
Stourton is a storyteller with perfect poise * Spectator *
Ivo Stourton was born in 1982 and graduated from Cambridge with a double first in English. He is the son of Radio Four Today presenter Ed Stourton. He is at work on his second novel, a page-turning gothic thriller.