Seduced by their reckless charisma and talent for decadence, James falls for both Francis, the group's ringleader, and Jessica, his beautiful best friend. Their extravagant living is financed, unwittingly, by Francis's father, but when he suddenly cuts his son off, the friends are left floundering as they try to maintain a lifestyle they can't afford. That is, until Francis embroils them in a plan that will test the limits of their friendship and link them to one another forever.
Humming with intellectual energy and grace, The Night Climbers portrays the intensity of early relationships, when people are at their most impressionable, and explores the ties that bind with a keen eye.
Seduced by their reckless charisma and talent for decadence, James falls for both Francis, the group's ringleader, and Jessica, his beautiful best friend. Their extravagant living is financed, unwittingly, by Francis's father, but when he suddenly cuts his son off, the friends are left floundering as they try to maintain a lifestyle they can't afford. That is, until Francis embroils them in a plan that will test the limits of their friendship and link them to one another forever.
Humming with intellectual energy and grace, The Night Climbers portrays the intensity of early relationships, when people are at their most impressionable, and explores the ties that bind with a keen eye.
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Overview
Seduced by their reckless charisma and talent for decadence, James falls for both Francis, the group's ringleader, and Jessica, his beautiful best friend. Their extravagant living is financed, unwittingly, by Francis's father, but when he suddenly cuts his son off, the friends are left floundering as they try to maintain a lifestyle they can't afford. That is, until Francis embroils them in a plan that will test the limits of their friendship and link them to one another forever.
Humming with intellectual energy and grace, The Night Climbers portrays the intensity of early relationships, when people are at their most impressionable, and explores the ties that bind with a keen eye.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781416588412 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Gallery Books |
| Publication date: | 06/03/2008 |
| Pages: | 336 |
| Sales rank: | 1,072,469 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
first) in English at Cambridge. He is currently training to be a city
lawyer.
Read an Excerpt
The Night Climbers
A NovelBy Ivo Stourton
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Copyright © 2007 Ivo StourtonAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9781416948698
Chapter 1
There were security barriers in the foyer, thick glass turnstiles that fell open when you stuck the right card in the slots. The receptionists, however, were the real security. "Can I help you?" rang out across the lobby from behind the desk like "Who goes there?" from a battlement. It was a surprise, therefore, to find Jessica sitting in my black leather chair, waiting for me to return from the basement gym where I had spent a cathartic lunch break pummeling my personal trainer, sweating out the last drops of the previous night's whiskey. I knew from the way she looked at me, tilting her head forward and peering out from under her blond bangs while she gave me a lopsided smile, that she had lied her way in. Her expression was just as I remembered it when we'd gotten away with something, and it pulled me back into the past with the force of a scent. At thirty-two she was already losing her looks. They were not going gracefully, with the haunting quality that briefly heightens doomed beauty. She had bags under her eyes and a spot on her chin where her makeup had formed a beige scab. I took no pleasure in this, but I did take pleasure from the fact that I didn't care. Indifference, not feigned but genuinelyfelt, was a hard-won victory, and I prized it.
She was playing with the objects on my desk. My pens were scattered over the blotting paper.
"How can I help?" I asked.
"Don't you want to know how I got in? I pretended to be from London Underground. I read about the deal you're doing, turning public services private. I'm your two thirty." She grinned. "You look nice. And you look rich." She leaned across the desk and lifted one of the silver balls on my Newton's Cradle, letting it go to hit its fellow with a gentle click.
As I looked at her, I tried to gauge her financial situation. It seemed the quickest way to divining what she wanted. Her platinum hair had been recently cut and highlighted. Her fingernails were salon neat and unpainted, but shined. She wore a simple, scuffed Tiffany silver pendant. Her black suit could have been tailored, but Jessica had always had a body that made cheap clothes look expensive. In the days when I had known her well, she had practiced a policy of sartorial simplicity designed to exhibit her natural gifts and I think to embarrass the girls who dressed up. I could not tell whether this policy had survived the passing of her beauty. I thought on the whole that choice had given way to necessity. There was no ring on her finger.
Jessica sat back in her chair and met my eye as if to ask, "And what has become of you?"
"So, you're my two thirty. I bill at two hundred and fifty pounds an hour. What can I do for you?"
"You can give me a discount, for starters."
We looked at each other with fixed smiles, our gazes headlights speeding toward each other in the dark. She relented first. "I need a place to stay for a few days. I don't want to go to a hotel. I don't want to go to friends. I don't want to be found."
She rose from my seat. Her movements still had the light accent of childhood ballet. Born of parental ambition, undone by a teenage growth spurt, a graceful precision was the last legacy of repetition and bleeding toes. To my displeasure, I noticed that behind the chair sat a briefcase and a piece of fake Louis Vuitton luggage, its beige midriff distended with packing. Jessica knew the difference that social leverage could make, and it would be that much more awkward to dismiss her if she had all the practical necessities already at hand. I wondered what the receptionists downstairs would think of my attractive female client arriving prepared for an overnight stay. It was typical of Jessica to cause disruption simply by virtue of her presence. The air was still filled with the faint metallic click of the toy she had set in motion on my desk. With an air of unimpeachable honesty, she addressed me eye to eye.
"Is there somewhere else we can go to talk? I don't mean to be melodramatic; I just haven't seen you in a long time, and if I'm going to get turned down I'd prefer to do it somewhere pretty. Don't you have a client hospitality area or something? After all, I am a client." She grinned again.
We stood in the lift, and I watched as the two halves of my image slid together in the metallic panels of the doors. Jessica's appraising look was still fresh in my mind, and I checked myself out discreetly. My dark hair was perfectly slicked, my blue eyes glowed even in the dull surface of the metal. My arms were thick from the gym. The slight bulge of flesh around my collar appeared again today. I raised my chin a little to tighten the skin. Jessica almost caught me in the reflection, and I looked away. The lift deposited us smoothly on the top floor, like riding up in the palm of a giant. The doors slid apart, and my image divided and disappeared. By the time we arrived, Jessica was solemn, demonstrating one of those mercurial mood swings that had confounded her youthful suitors. The young men at Cambridge could never tell whether to court her as a child, a princess, an executive, or a clown. Only the few of us who had become truly close to her had learned to read her sudden shifts, like sailors at the mercy of an unpredictable sky.
The great glass wall of client reception disclosed a cinematic view of the city, stretching down to the glittering ribbon of the river and the stately dome of Saint Paul's. On the Southbank the great blocks of culture faced the towers of commerce, the National Theatre hunkered down on the edge of the Thames, its gray concrete balconies camouflaged against the sky. I put on my overcoat and led Jessica past the ranks of black leather sofas, neatly stacked periodicals, and the fresh fruit and orchids quietly dying in their glass vessels.
The Japanese garden on the client reception floor had one of the best views in the city. Old enemies appeared on the eastern horizon, Magic Circle law firms sitting in state by Moorgate. The balcony overlooked Saint Andrew's Church, a tiny nub of conscience subsisting in the center of the financial monoliths, so much older than the buildings that blocked it from the sunlight. The leaves of the weeping willow in the churchyard spilled over the wrought-iron railings onto the pavement. The roof garden itself was composed of large black obsidian stones and elegant little shrubs arranged on a bed of white sand. The sand was raked into perfect parallel trenches, like a plowed field in delicate miniature. A slate walkway paved the edges and formed a bridge over a tiny stream that bubbled up through the rocks. The sky seemed huge when you were so many floors above the skyline, with no other buildings hemming it in. It closed like the lid of a freezer over the cold city. I felt proud to have brought her up here, on top of my impressive building, above my kingdom.
I slid the door closed behind us, and heard the comforting click of the catch, sealing my working world inside like the body of a despot in a vast stone tomb. The wind was strong so high above the street and carried a film of drizzle that coated the garden with a thin layer of cold moisture. She walked away from me, her heels sounding on the gray slate, and leaned on the stainless steel banister that separated the balcony from the empty air beyond.
"I know what you're thinking, James. I'm not on the run from the mafia or the police, and I don't want money from you or help or anything else, really, except a couple of showers' worth of hot water. You work during the day. I go out at night. You won't even see me, if you don't want to."
"I don't know how you are placed financially, Jessica," I said, slipping into my professional idiom. "But it seems to me that you could easily budget for a hotel with a higher degree of anonymity than an old university buddy's flat."
She sat on the metal bar that ran around the side of the balcony and put her feet against the large black boulder nearest the edge of the carefully raked white sand, dimpled from the raindrops. Behind her I could see a roof that the building's architects had never intended for public view. It was ten stories down. I thought of how best to guide her back from her perch without showing that it made me uncomfortable.
"You have become pompous. Is that what we are? Old 'university buddies'?"
Angry horns bleated down in the street. With her hands clutched around the bar and her shoulders hunched a little forward against the chill, she straightened her long legs slightly, leaning her slender torso fractionally backward into space. I felt the sharp edge of a fledgling concern tapping against the inside of my skull. With a steady voice, I answered. "I haven't seen you in the best part of a decade. What would you prefer to be called?" She was already drawing me away from a proper examination of her motives.
"Oh, I don't know. Something with a little feeling. Playmate, darling, co-conspirator..." This last one she delivered in a theatrical, breathy whisper.
"I think I have company this weekend," I said.
"She'll understand. Women like to be made to wait. You don't want to be overly available."
Not these women, I thought.
She shivered and tugged the thin material of her jacket tight around her thin, slight body. The falling mist strengthened for a moment into drizzle. She straightened her legs with little jerks, a childish gesture of distraction that pushed her body farther and farther out over the edge. I clenched my hands behind my back so that she could not see them. There was a light wind, so high above the street, and it carried the loose strands of her blond hair up and over her cheekbones.
"My place isn't big. I don't have a spare bed, and -- "
She pushed up suddenly onto the balls of her feet. The gesture carried her too far, and she fell first backward, then forward to the floor with a spasmodic tightening of her stomach. A surge of adrenaline manned my chest, and I ran toward her with an inarticulate cry. She was laughing with the exhilaration of her near disaster and with triumph at the terror in my face. I had started out across the perfect garden, breaking the patterned surface with my feet. The cut of my suit pushed me into an unnatural feminine jog, and I knew that I must have looked ridiculous. I acknowledged her victory with a sheepish smile and walked over to where she leaned laughing against the rail. Her laughter gave way to a coughing fit, and she bent over almost like an old man clutching her stomach. Somehow the moment seemed vulnerable rather than disgusting.
"So, can I stay or what?" she said when she had regained some measure of control.
"Fuck it. Why not."
She was lying, but there would be time to discover the truth. I could not remember when an obligation had been placed on me that was purely human. I did things because of what I had signed, what was expected, what was right, what was paid. This I would do because of who had asked me. I said yes because once I would have done anything for her and required nothing in return. Many people would have once done anything for her, but she would have actually accepted my help.
"We'll stay up all night. It'll be like old times," she said. "You might even have fun."
Copyright (c) 2007 by Ivo Stourton
Continues...
Excerpted from The Night Climbers by Ivo Stourton Copyright © 2007 by Ivo Stourton. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Reading Group Guide
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Reading Group Guide
The Night Climbers
A Novel
Ivo Stourton
Introduction
A novel of startling intensity, The Night Climbers is the riveting story of a secret league at Cambridge — a group of young daredevils who test their limits in a variety of ways, including scaling the university's towering architecture after dark. Recalling his induction into the group as a first-year student, James Walker describes the seductive power of these alluring new friends. As their crimes escalate from the realm of misdemeanors, James finds himself testing not only the limits of his bravado but also the limits of his heart, immersed in a love triangle with breathtakingly beautiful Jessica and mastermind Francis. When Francis's father suddenly disinherits him, the Night Climbers must look for new sources of funding, plotting a brilliant heist that could either destroy their lives or forever liberate them from the ordinary world.
Showcasing the gifts of a fiercely talented young writer, The Night Climbers is both a page-turner and a rich exploration of the bounds of loyalty and love. We hope the following guide will enhance your experience of this mesmerizing novel.
Topics and Questions for Discussion
1. How did your opinion of the characters shift throughout the novel, especially your attitude toward James and Francis? Which of your initial assumptions proved to be false?
2. What drew Michael to James? Was James inducted into the Night Climbers because he created the illusion that he fit the criteria, or because Michael knew that he really wasn't like the other members?
3. Discuss the novel's title. Besides their literal climbing, what other daring heights did the group aspire to reach? What might have compelled the campus's real-life climbers throughout history to perform their legendary expeditions? Is it simply a reflection of a quest for an adrenaline rush, or does it mean something more?
4. What does James's initiation into drugs say about the vagaries of addiction? What led Francis to become highly addicted, while James managed to avoid a similar spiral? Was Francis's urge to test the limits of the body related to his fascination with cadavers, illustrated in chapter seven?
5. In the closing lines of chapter eight, James recalls the first time he thought Francis might be lying, saying that "it wasn't that Francis was a good liar, if indeed he did tell lies, but rather that his listeners became good dupes." What is the role of illusion and storytelling within the circle of Night Climbers? How much does the truth matter to them? Does good storytelling trump truthful storytelling in the real world?
6. What does sex mean to James, Jessica, and Frances? What levels of intimacy — emotional and physical — are they able to experience? Do they view sex only as a rush, or as a way to bond? Does any aspect of sex seem dangerous to them?
7. What finally compels Lord Soulford's decision to disinherit his son in chapter twelve? What is your understanding of their relationship? How is Francis's experience of family different from James's?
8. In terms of personality, what was Lisa's role in the group? What made her an essential player in pulling off the Picasso sale? What were her best survival traits?
9. Discuss the characters' varying attitudes toward money. What does money mean to each of them? What accounts for Francis's voracious appetite for spending, versus Lisa's incredibly good investing skills? When the group fantasizes about what they would do if their plan proved successful, what do their wishes say about their approaches to life in general?
10. How did you react to the structure of the novel, featuring shifting timelines? In what way did it enhance suspense? Does it reflect your own experience of memory, and the way past events often mingle with the present?
11. Was Francis right about the hypocrisy of the art world? Did you agree with his philosophy that creating a fake is not immoral if society cannot tell the difference between a fake and an original, attaching perceived value to unseen attributes?
12. In chapter nineteen, James describes the fact that Francis's father was "a living embodiment of Conservative commitment to a multicultural Britain." How did ancestry factor into Lord Soulford's power, or lack of power? What is the effect of ancestry on Francis's life in upper-class English society?
13. After reading Francis's letter in chapter twenty-one, James says Francis showed him that "most people used their imaginations and their intelligence to construct arguments against doing what scares them." To what extent is this true for you? What is the best way to determine whether our fears are healthy or hindering?
14. Could anyone or anything have saved Francis from the level of despair that ended his life?
15. How would you describe James's tone as a narrator? How might the novel have unfolded if it had been told from Francis's point of view?
About the Author
Ivo Stourton was born in 1982 and received high honors in English at Cambridge. This is his first novel.
Introduction
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Reading Group Guide
The Night Climbers
A Novel
Ivo Stourton
Introduction
A novel of startling intensity, The Night Climbers is the riveting story of a secret league at Cambridge -- a group of young daredevils who test their limits in a variety of ways, including scaling the university's towering architecture after dark. Recalling his induction into the group as a first-year student, James Walker describes the seductive power of these alluring new friends. As their crimes escalate from the realm of misdemeanors, James finds himself testing not only the limits of his bravado but also the limits of his heart, immersed in a love triangle with breathtakingly beautiful Jessica and mastermind Francis. When Francis's father suddenly disinherits him, the Night Climbers must look for new sources of funding, plotting a brilliant heist that could either destroy their lives or forever liberate them from the ordinary world.
Showcasing the gifts of a fiercely talented young writer, The Night Climbers is both a page-turner and a rich exploration of the bounds of loyalty and love. We hope the following guide will enhance your experience of this mesmerizing novel.
Topics and Questions for Discussion
1. How did your opinion of the characters shift throughout the novel, especially your attitude toward James and Francis? Which of your initial assumptions proved to be false?
2. What drew Michael to James? Was James inducted into the Night Climbers because he created the illusion that he fit the criteria, or because Michael knew that he really wasn't like the other members?
3. Discuss the novel'stitle. Besides their literal climbing, what other daring heights did the group aspire to reach? What might have compelled the campus's real-life climbers throughout history to perform their legendary expeditions? Is it simply a reflection of a quest for an adrenaline rush, or does it mean something more?
4. What does James's initiation into drugs say about the vagaries of addiction? What led Francis to become highly addicted, while James managed to avoid a similar spiral? Was Francis's urge to test the limits of the body related to his fascination with cadavers, illustrated in chapter seven?
5. In the closing lines of chapter eight, James recalls the first time he thought Francis might be lying, saying that "it wasn't that Francis was a good liar, if indeed he did tell lies, but rather that his listeners became good dupes." What is the role of illusion and storytelling within the circle of Night Climbers? How much does the truth matter to them? Does good storytelling trump truthful storytelling in the real world?
6. What does sex mean to James, Jessica, and Frances? What levels of intimacy -- emotional and physical -- are they able to experience? Do they view sex only as a rush, or as a way to bond? Does any aspect of sex seem dangerous to them?
7. What finally compels Lord Soulford's decision to disinherit his son in chapter twelve? What is your understanding of their relationship? How is Francis's experience of family different from James's?
8. In terms of personality, what was Lisa's role in the group? What made her an essential player in pulling off the Picasso sale? What were herbest survival traits?
9. Discuss the characters' varying attitudes toward money. What does money mean to each of them? What accounts for Francis's voracious appetite for spending, versus Lisa's incredibly good investing skills? When the group fantasizes about what they would do if their plan proved successful, what do their wishes say about their approaches to life in general?
10. How did you react to the structure of the novel, featuring shifting timelines? In what way did it enhance suspense? Does it reflect your own experience of memory, and the way past events often mingle with the present?
11. Was Francis right about the hypocrisy of the art world? Did you agree with his philosophy that creating a fake is not immoral if society cannot tell the difference between a fake and an original, attaching perceived value to unseen attributes?
12. In chapter nineteen, James describes the fact that Francis's father was "a living embodiment of Conservative commitment to a multicultural Britain." How did ancestry factor into Lord Soulford's power, or lack of power? What is the effect of ancestry on Francis's life in upper-class English society?
13. After reading Francis's letter in chapter twenty-one, James says Francis showed him that "most people used their imaginations and their intelligence to construct arguments against doing what scares them." To what extent is this true for you? What is the best way to determine whether our fears are healthy or hindering?
14. Could anyone or anything have saved Francis from the level of despair that ended his life?
15. How would you describe James's tone as a narrator? How might the novel have unfolded if it had been told from Francis's point of view?
About the Author
Ivo Stourton was born in 1982 and received high honors in English at Cambridge. This is his first novel.