The Rope Ladder

Like the rungs of the ladder, this book keeps the reader gripping onto each next step in its complex plot. The story begins as a plain tale of city kid with problems, thrown into rural life. Strong language and gritty realities combine to make up Mungo’s complex character. He retains the persona of the streetwise kid who, in his new setting, encounters the sort of glitches the town mouse encounters with the country mouse. Boredom and the strangeness of his community, a dislike for the inhabitants and the straitjacket it imposes on his behaviour – all pretty typical problems. However, the changes become progressively stranger and we begin to realise that Mungo has stepped into a very different world.

This is fantasy without dragons and spells, where the bounds of the universe are played with but the raw material remains the stuff of everyday life. The story reifies into complexity, such that, at points, I was genuinely confused. However, Richardson teases the reader along, always keeping us stepping up that ladder to answer the questions he raises. When the answers finally do come they pack a punchy twist that resolves the tale with a truly satisfying explanation. A clever, entertaining and challenging read.