The Dickens Boy

  • Author Thomas Keneally
  • Narrator David Tredinnick
  • Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
  • Run Time 14 hours and 42 minutes
  • Format Audio
  • Genre Historical fiction.
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What to expect

In 1868, Charles Dickens dispatches his youngest child to Australia. Like his brother Alfred before him, sixteen-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.

(P)2020 Penguin Random House Australia Ltd

Critics Review

  • An engrossing and transporting read

    Financial Times

  • [A] genial, wry recreation of [Edward Dickens’] time in remote New South Wales

    Daily Mail

  • A bustling picaresque tale . . . there are some unforgettably vivid scenes in this rompy but emotive story of bruised youth.

    Mail on Sunday

  • [An] absorbing novel . . . Plorn himself is a joy

    The Times

  • Keneally has brought off a notable double: a delightful and continuously interesting portrayal of mid-19th century life in the rolling sheep pastures of New South Wales and an acute and persuasive examination of the mystery that Charles Dickens still presents, and of the enduring fascination he exerts over us today.

    Scotsman

  • The Dickens Boy . . . is energetic, even exuberant. It is in love with the abundance of life it negotiates.

    The Sydney Morning Herald

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