Boy Swallows Universe. Trent Dalton

Copyright

The Borough Press

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      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

      2  Title Page

      3  Copyright

      4  Praise

      5  Dedication

      6  Contents

      7  Boy Writes Words

      8  Boy Makes Rainbow

      9  Boy Follows Footsteps

      10  Boy Receives Letter

      11  Boy Kills Bull

      12  Boy Loses Luck

      13  Boy Busts Out

      14  Boy Meets Girl

      15  Boy Stirs Monster

      16  Boy Loses Balance

      17  Boy Seeks Help

      18  Boy Parts Sea

      19  Boy Steals Ocean

      20  Boy Masters Time

      21  Boy Sees Vision

      22  Boy Bites Spider

      23  Boy Tightens Noose

      24  Boy Digs Deep

      25  Boy Takes Flight

      26  Boy Drowns Sea

      27  Boy Conquers Moon

      28  Boy Swallows