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.
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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
A fast-paced novel with a gripping plot - Waterstones' Quarterly
Stourton is a name to watch - Publishers' Weekly
Beautifully crafted...a compelling debut of youthful daring. His quietly poetic prose is charming, and there's real warmth and depth here in his explorations of friendship and guilt - Daily Mail
Part nostalgic reverie, part taut little thriller, it makes for a promising debut - Guardian
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.