A compelling novel of love and war...............

Ladder to the Moon by P.J. Fry
Longview International Ltd, RRP $34.99

A compelling novel of love and war from an experienced New Zealand military officer is all the more remarkable for its realism

It is 1977. Leila Ashrawi, from a middle-class Palestinian family dispossessed during bitter fighting in the Arab–Israeli War of 1967, and John Ferris, a New Zealand Army captain serving as a UN military observer on the Israel–Lebanon border, meet and fall in love. In a frenetic, confused and violent world – Leila’s brothers are members of the PLO – the couple’s plan to make a new life together on the other side of the world comes only at the expense of great anguish and desperation. But then, on the morning of their departure, Ferris’s vehicle detonates a landmine… 

There is page-turning drama and heart-stopping tension here, and first-class writing, but also humour, comradeship and, above all, a deeply moving love story that stretches across more than two decades.

‘Gripping and embracing. A triumph of spirit in the horror of war.’ Dr Christopher Pugsley

About the author:

Christchurch-born Peter Fry has experienced civil and military conflict throughout the world. A commissioned officer in the New Zealand Army, he was seconded to the United Nations in the Middle East, where he served as a military observer on the borders of Egypt, Syria, Israel and Lebanon. His army career included periods of service in New Zealand and South East Asia. He then joined the United Nations as an international security adviser, working in Iraq, East Timor, the North West Pacific, Somalia, Pakistan and UN Headquarters in New York.

In 2012 Peter retired from UN service and returned to Christchurch to be with his wife, Elizabeth, and to indulge his interest in writing, military history, painting and tramping – and his passion for pursuing trout.