Copyright
The Borough Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Copyright © Trent Dalton 2018
Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Cover photograph © Margie Hurwich/plainpicture
Author photo by Lyndon Mechielsen
Trent Dalton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008319250
Ebook Edition © JULY 2018 ISBN: 9780008319267
Version: 2018-11-26
Praise for Boy Swallows Universe
‘An astonishing achievement. Dalton is a breath of fresh air – raw, honest, funny, moving. He has created a novel of the most surprising and addictive nature. Unputdownable’
David Wenham
‘I couldn’t stop reading from the moment I started, and I still can barely speak for the beauty of it. Trent Dalton has done something very special here, writing with grace, from his own broken heart’
Caroline Overington, author of The One Who Got Away
‘This novel is a raucous, moving, hilarious triumph – a major new voice on the Australian literary scene has arrived’
Nikki Gemmell, author of The Bride Stripped Bare and After
‘Enthralling – a moving account of sibling solidarity and the dogged pursuit of love’
Geoffrey Robertson QC
‘Stunning. My favourite novel for decades. Left me devastated but looking to the heavens’
Tim Rogers, author of Detours
‘Oh my God. Wow. It’s just superb. I’ve always looked out for Trent’s work because he has a magic about him: what he sees, how he explains things. He can describe a kitchen table in a way that makes you want to throw your arms around it. After reading Boy Swallows Universe, I realise that his genius isn’t really just about writing so much; it’s about hope, and his instinctive and infectious “Yes” to one of the most plaguing questions of the human night: can tenderness survive brutality? This novel confirms Trent Dalton as a genuine treasure of Australian letters’
Annabel Crabb
‘As a brilliant journalist, Trent Dalton has always intimately understood how fact is often stranger than fiction. Perhaps it took someone like him to produce a novel so humming with truth. Call it a hunch, but I think he might’ve just written an Australian classic’
Benjamin Law
Dedication
For Mum and Dad.
For Joel, Ben and Jesse.
Contents
1 Cover
4 Praise
6 Contents
28
Boy Swallows