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?
Coming April 2024
from Penguin Books
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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
“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, 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
“With energy and insight, The Sky Was Ours probes the twin dreams of human flight and freedom from fossil fuels, following a trio of loners as they strive to bring a new world into existence. In rich, evocative prose, Fassler evokes a sky-wide canvas of emotions: exhilaration, love, greed, grief, and the yearning for transcendence. Bittersweet, life-affirming, and unforgettable.”
—Kyle McCarthy, author of Everyone Knows How Much I Love You
“Fassler’s novel is about lonely, dented humans and how our thirst for naked awe can save us, or doom us. It’s beautiful, truly kind, an ode to transcendent obsession, and reading it put me in a trance.”
—Rebecca Rukeyser, author of The Seaplane on Final Approach
“Infused with wonder and keen insight onto our shared world, Fassler has crafted a tender, questing ode to impossible dreams, and to the fragile but very real possibilities they open up in us. Rooted in our era of climate crisis and disillusionment but reaching out for something liberatory, it’s the rare book that serves as both a provocation and a balm.”
—Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun
“A potent, prescient and tremendously moving novel—a book written with genuine love for its characters, for myth and for our very world itself. A wholly engrossing debut.
—Alexander Maksik, author of The Long Corner
“Fassler’s prose is dazzling, alive, peppered with rich metaphors . . . thrilling, hopeful.”
—Kirkus