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The Night Climbers
The Night Climbers
Dec 19, 2025 8:39 PM

Author:Ivo Stourton

The Night Climbers

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.

Reviews

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
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