The Dickens Boy cover art

The Dickens Boy

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The Dickens Boy

By: Thomas Keneally
Narrated by: David Tredinnick
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About this listen

In 1868, Charles Dickens dispatches his youngest child to Australia. Like his brother Alfred before him, 16-year-old Edward is expected to learn to apply himself in what his father considers to be the new land of opportunity.

Posted to a remote sheep station in New South Wales, Edward discovers that Charles Dickens' fame has reached even there, as has the gossip about his father's scandalous liaison with an actress. Amid colonists, ex-convicts, local tribespeople and a handful of eligible young women, Edward strives to be his own man - and keep secret the fact that he's read none of his father's novels.

Conjuring up a life of sheep-droving, horse-racing and cricket tournaments in a community riven with tensions and prejudice, the story of Edward's adventures also affords an intimate portrait of Dickens himself.

This vivacious novel is classic Keneally: historical figures and events re-imagined with verve, humour and compassion.

©2020 Serpentine Publishing Co Pty Ltd (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd Historical Fiction Fiction Sports

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Fascinating mixture of real Dickens history and facts about Australian colonial life.
We saw young Plorn maturing and coming to terms with the weight of his famous father's legacy and what his father had expected of him

fascinating mixture of real Dickens history and facts about Australian colonial life.

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