A Long Way Down
Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year's Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances.
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Four strangers meet by accident on a London rooftop on New Year's Eve, each there for the same reason. They make a pact to wait, and become an unlikely group through the months that follow.
A Long Way Down is dark comedy. Nick Hornby's 2005 novel follows four strangers who meet on a London rooftop on New Year's Eve, all there to jump. The premise is bleak but the tone is wry and humane, with significant humor woven through the depression themes.
Yes. A 2014 film adaptation directed by Pascal Chaumeil and starring Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, and Imogen Poots was released. The film softened some elements of the novel and received mixed reviews.
A Long Way Down was written by Nick Hornby, published in 2005 by Penguin.
A Long Way Down is 347 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, A Long Way Down takes most readers 5 to 8 hours to finish.
A Long Way Down is a standalone novel by Nick Hornby, not part of a series.
A Long Way Down is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
