21 best-selling fiction books like A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

Cover of A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

A Ladder to the Sky

By: John Boyne

4.21

Format: 362 pages, Hardcover

Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—b…

"I had told the truth, or a version of it, anyway."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

"I had told the truth, or a version of it, anyway."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

"I think Maurice is whatever he needs to be, whenever he needs to be it. He's an operator, that's for sure."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

"I think Maurice is whatever he needs to be, whenever he needs to be it. He's an operator, that's for sure."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

If you liked the fiction plot in A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne , here is a list of 21 books like this:

Cover of The Women by Kristin Hannah

1. The Women

By: Kristin Hannah

4.64

Format: 471 pages, Hardcover

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these wor… read more

Similar categories in Kristin Hannah's The Women book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Words were creators of worlds; you had to be careful with them."

-Kristin Hannah, The Women

"Love mattered in this ruined world, but so did honor. What was one without the other?"

-Kristin Hannah, The Women

"Love. A thing to be shouted from the rooftops, celebrated, not cultivated in secret and clipped into shape in the dark."

-Kristin Hannah, The Women

Cover of Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

2. Small Things Like These

By: Claire Keegan

4.18

Format: 128 pages, Hardcover

It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal me… read more

Similar categories in Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
"Always, Christmas brought out the best and the worst in people."

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

"for people were bound, he knew, to reveal not only themselves, but what they knew, in conversation"

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

"And then the nights came on and the frosts took hold again, and blades of cold slid under doors and cut the knees off those who still knelt to say the rosary."

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

"When he reached the yard gate and found the padlock seized with frost, he felt the strain of being alive and wished he had stayed in bed, but he made himself carry on and crossed to a neighbour’s hou…"

-Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These

Cover of Prophet Song by Paul    Lynch

3. Prophet Song

By: Paul Lynch

4.10

Format: 259 pages, Kindle Edition

A fearless portrait of a society on the brink as a mother faces a terrible choice, from an internat… read more

Similar categories in Paul Lynch's Prophet Song book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"people are entitled to some small moment of peace."

-Paul Lynch, Prophet Song

"the child absorbing the mother’s trauma and storing it in his body for later use,"

-Paul Lynch, Prophet Song

"... time is at once addition and subtraction, time adds one day to the next and always takes away from what's left..."

-Paul Lynch, Prophet Song

"...knowing how it is so that all boys grow up and pull away from home to unmake the world in the guise of making it, nature decrees it so."

-Paul Lynch, Prophet Song

Cover of The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

4. The Frozen River

By: Ariel Lawhon

4.43

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover

A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-cen… read more

Similar categories in Ariel Lawhon's The Frozen River book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Go as a River by Shelley Read

5. Go as a River

By: Shelley Read

4.28

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

A sweeping, heart-stopping epic of a young woman's journey to becoming, set against the harsh beaut… read more

Similar categories in Shelley Read's Go as a River book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"Women endure. That’s what we do."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Loss has nothing to do with what you do deserve and don’t deserve."

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"I learned from their subtle relations... that love is a private matter, to be nurtured, and even mourned, between two beings alone. It belongs to them, and no one else, like a secret treasure, like a…"

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

"Try as we might to convince ourselves otherwise, the moments of our becoming cannot be carefully plucked like the ripest and most satisfying peach from the bough. In the endless stumble toward oursel…"

-Shelley Read, Go as a River

Cover of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

6. Tom Lake

By: Ann Patchett

3.99

Format: 309 pages, Hardcover

In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again prov… read more

Similar categories in Ann Patchett's Tom Lake book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"You can’t pretend this [Covid] isn’t happening,"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"In the summer the pear trees were fine. In the summer, all that is hideous about a pear tree is hidden by leaves and pears. But once those disguises were removed they were nothing but acres of murder…"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"Hazel, listen to me. I'm going to tell you something important, you need to be brave.' I then explained to the dog how I have told myself for so many years that my career fell apart because I wasn't …"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

"It's as if someone bought all the diamonds at Tiffany's, and crushed them into dust, then spread that dust across the water so that it sifts down evenly, filtering through the shards of light that cu…"

-Ann Patchett, Tom Lake

Cover of You Are Here by David Nicholls

7. You Are Here

By: David Nicholls

4.08

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

Sometimes you need to get lost to find your way . . . Michael is coming undone. Adrift after his… read more

Similar categories in David Nicholls's You Are Here book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"It’s true I do have time and freedom and I love it, sometimes. But the notion that I should be “making the most of it"

-David Nicholls, You Are Here

"You were traumatised.’ ‘I wonder if people use that word too much.’ ‘It’s the right word for something traumatic.’ ‘But it wasn’t war. People get beaten up every Friday night.’ ‘And are traumatised b…"

-David Nicholls, You Are Here

"she went on a solo trip to Italy, role-playing a character in a Forster novel. In Florence, she read performatively in cafés and sat in the cool of exquisite churches, straining for some kind of spir…"

-David Nicholls, You Are Here

"Books saw her through the pupal stage of thirteen to sixteen, frowning at Kafka and Woolf, then tearing through John Irving and Maeve Binchy, widely read in the proper sense, making no distinction be…"

-David Nicholls, You Are Here

Cover of James by Percival Everett

8. James

By: Percival Everett

4.54

Format: 303 pages, Hardcover

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , both harrowing and f… read more

Similar categories in Percival Everett's James book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • audiobook
Cover of In Memoriam by Alice Winn

9. In Memoriam

By: Alice Winn

4.53

Format: 382 pages, Hardcover

A haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during a time of war. It'… read more

Similar categories in Alice Winn's In Memoriam book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
"It’s intimate."

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Call me Sidney,"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Where’s the rest of it?"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

"Do you believe in magic?"

-Alice Winn, In Memoriam

Cover of Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

10. Blue Sisters

By: Coco Mellors

4.21

Format: 352 pages, Hardcover

Three estranged siblings return to their family home in New York after their beloved sister's death… read more

Similar categories in Coco Mellors's Blue Sisters book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"A sister is not a friend. Who can explain the urge to take a relationship as primal and complex as a sibling and reduce it to something as replaceable, as banal as a friend? Yet this status is used a…"

-Coco Mellors, Blue Sisters

Cover of Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

11. Yellowface

By: R.F. Kuang

3.77

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says… read more

Similar categories in R.F. Kuang's Yellowface book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • books about books
  • audiobook
"The truth is fluid, there is always another way to spin the story."

-R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

"They tell authors never to look at Goodreads, but nobody follows that advice—none of us can resist the urge to know how our work is being received."

-R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

"Writing is the closest thing we have to real magic. Writing is creating something out of nothing, is opening doors to other lands. Writing gives you power to shape your own world when the real one hu…"

-R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

Cover of Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2) by Colm Tóibín

12. Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2)

By: Colm Tóibín

3.82

Format: 294 pages, Hardcover

From the beloved, critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author comes a spectacularly movi… read more

Similar categories in Colm Tóibín's Long Island (Eilis Lacey, #2) book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

13. The Bee Sting

By: Paul Murray

3.96

Format: 656 pages, Hardcover

From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and … read more

Similar categories in Paul Murray's The Bee Sting book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"It is for love. You are doing this for love."

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

"We all have problems. But often instead of accepting the truth about ourselves, we cover it up. We try to make ourselves the way we think we’re expected to be."

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

"Maybe every era has an atrocity woven into its fabric. Maybe every society is complicit in terrible things and only afterwards gets around to pretending they didn’t know. When the kids ask, tell them…"

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

"Maybe that’s how it will go – instead of one definitive cataclysm, a series of ‘anomalies’, each time lasting longer, with the stretches of what you call normal life becoming further and further apar…"

-Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

Cover of Table for Two by Amor Towles

14. Table for Two

By: Amor Towles

4.26

Format: 464 pages, Hardcover

From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a… read more

Similar categories in Amor Towles's Table for Two book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"And though she couldn’t remember the exact reference and whether it was from mythology or the Bible, she knew instinctively as they approached the pier’s limit she mustn’t look back."

-Amor Towles, Table for Two

"It is a funny aspect of life, thought Charlie, how a group of grown people can convince themselves to do something that none of them really want to do. They start by talking an idea into existence. O…"

-Amor Towles, Table for Two

Cover of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

15. Demon Copperhead

By: Barbara Kingsolver

4.50

Format: 560 pages, Hardcover

"Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose." Set in t… read more

Similar categories in Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
"A kid is a terrible thing to be, in charge of nothing."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

"I can still feel in my bones how being mad was the one thing holding me together."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

"Counting on Jesus to save the day is no more real than sending up the Batman signal."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

"life is a wild, impetuous ride. There could be good shit up ahead, don’t rule it out."

-Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

Cover of Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

16. Trespasses

By: Louise Kennedy

4.00

Format: 304 pages, Hardcover

Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between … read more

Similar categories in Louise Kennedy's Trespasses book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • literary fiction
  • historical
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • contemporary
  • adult
  • audiobook
Cover of Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

17. Strange Sally Diamond

By: Liz Nugent

4.20

Format: 384 pages, Hardcover

Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father… read more

Similar categories in Liz Nugent's Strange Sally Diamond book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • audiobook
  • adult
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Kala by Colin Walsh

18. Kala

By: Colin Walsh

3.99

Format: 416 pages, Hardcover

A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for t… read more

Similar categories in Colin Walsh's Kala book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • audiobook
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Vapers are cunt wands,' Donna snaps."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

"I just want to switch myself off. Disconnect from everything."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

"So much of the night's vague. A film strip with half the frames missing."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

"Who drinks a decaf cappuccino? Be honest with yourself and get a cup of warm milk."

-Colin Walsh, Kala

Cover of A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

19. A Ladder to the Sky

By: John Boyne

4.21

Format: 362 pages, Hardcover

Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—b… read more

Similar categories in John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • adult fiction
  • literary fiction
  • lgbt
  • historical
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • historical fiction
  • adult
  • books about books
  • audiobook
"I had told the truth, or a version of it, anyway."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

"I think Maurice is whatever he needs to be, whenever he needs to be it. He's an operator, that's for sure."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

"Would there be no end to publishing, he wondered? Perhaps it would be a good idea if everyone just stopped writing for a couple of years, and allowed readers to catch up."

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

"I've known a lot of whores in my life," added Gore, [...]. "Both men and women. And in general, I've always found them to be good company, with a highly evolved sense of honor. A whore will never che…"

-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky

Cover of All the Colors of the Dark by Chris  Whitaker

20. All the Colors of the Dark

By: Chris Whitaker

4.44

Format: 608 pages, Hardcover

From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an e… read more

Similar categories in Chris Whitaker's All the Colors of the Dark book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • audiobook
  • adult
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
Cover of Appalachian Book of the Dead by Dale Neal

21. Appalachian Book of the Dead

By: Dale Neal

3.46

Format: 242 pages, Paperback

Angel Garcia Jones left a trail of murders before disappearing into the deep woods of Yonah, North … read more

Similar categories in Dale Neal's Appalachian Book of the Dead book and John Boyne's A Ladder to the Sky

  • fiction

12 best-selling contemporary books like A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

Transform Your Habits

Prophet Song

Paul Lynch

4.10

Transform Your Habits

Tom Lake

Ann Patchett

3.99

Transform Your Habits

You Are Here

David Nicholls

4.08

Transform Your Habits

Blue Sisters

Coco Mellors

4.21

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21 Top fiction books like Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Transform Your Habits

I Who Have Never Known Men

Ros Schwartz , Jacqueline Harpman

4.22

Transform Your Habits

Trust

Hernan Diaz

3.83

Transform Your Habits

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan

4.18

Transform Your Habits

Prophet Song

Paul Lynch

4.10

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