The Sky Was Ours

A Novel

By: Joe Fassler

Narrated by: Leanne Woodward

“An immersive fever dream of a novel, beautifully written and boldly imagined.”—Leslie Jamison, New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams

From prizewinning writer Joe Fassler comes a brilliant modern reimagining of the myth of Daedalus and Icarus as a story of obsession, longing, and the radical pursuit of utopia

It’s 2005, and 24-year-old Jane is miserable. Overworked, buried in debt, she senses the life she wanted slipping away—while the world around her veers badly off course, hurtling toward economic and ecological collapse. She wants to find something better. But she has no idea where to start.

In a sudden and unprecedented burst of rebellion, Jane decides to abandon everything she knows, leaving behind her relationships and responsibilities to go on the road. That’s how she meets Barry, a brilliant and charismatic recluse living on an isolated homestead near New York’s Canadian border. For years, in secret, Barry’s chased an unlikely obsession: to build a pair of wings humans can fly in, with designs inspired by an obscure precursor to the Wright Brothers. It’s no mere hobby. He’s convinced his dream of flight will spark a revolution, delivering us from the degradation of modern capitalism and the climate chaos that awaits us.

Jane is captivated by Barry’s radical vision, even as his experiments become more dangerous. But she’s equally drawn to the enigmatic Ike, Barry’s gentle, thoughtful son, who’s known no other reality—and who only wants to keep his father alive, tethered to ground and to reason.

So begins an inventive, dazzlingly beautiful story about the human desire for transcendence—our longing to escape the mundane and glide into a euphoric future. Inspired by the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, The Sky Was Ours is a powerful and imaginative debut that explores the question: If you had access to technology that allowed you to escape the confines of your life, would you use it? And if Barry’s wings really could change the world, would that be freedom?

©2024 Joe Fassler (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“The Sky Was Ours is an immersive fever dream of a novel, beautifully written and boldly imagined. It’s a dark fairy tale with a gripping human pulse; attuned to global crisis but also rooted deeply in the psyches of its characters, animated by their grief and most of all by their longing—longing for wonder, escape, transcendence, hope for our profit-rotted world; a longing that soars through these pages with an energy and tenderness utterly its own.” —Leslie Jamison, New York Times bestselling author of The Empathy Exams

“A fascinating account of, among other things, how the American default to individual action undermines the collective force we must gather to deal with our perilous moment. A very American Icarus!” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“Humane, cinematic, and unstinting in wonder, Fassler’s debut—a captivating tale of freedom and disenchantment—asks nothing less than what it might mean to live an uncompromised life in a terribly compromised world. It is a beautiful achievement.” —Hermione Hoby, author of Virtue

So so good

Beautiful writing, a heartbreaking story we can all see ourselves in. A brilliant debut novel by Joe Fassler

Beautiful and thought-provoking

It's difficult to say too much about this book without throwing in spoilers. It is an adventure in "what-if", and the chronicle of a woman looking for something more. It also prompted me to look into history that I had never heard about (Otto Lilienthal was a fascinating individual), but that is just how my brain operates. Joe Fassler has written an amazing book, and Leanne Woodward does an excellent job of narration!

A Great Story That Left Me Feeling Hopeless

I don’t want to write any spoilers. The story is so good but the ending left me feeling hopeless. I pondered the lesson of it all but I can’t find the point.