Boy Swallows Universe

Brisbane, 1985: A lost father, a mute brother, a junkie mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It’s not as if Eli Bell’s life isn’t complicated enough already. He’s just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to be a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way – not the least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.But now Eli’s life is going to get a whole lot more serious: he’s about to meet the father he doesn’t remember, break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day to rescue his mum, come face to face with the criminals who tore his world apart, and fall in love with the girl of his dreams.A story of brotherhood, true love and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe will be the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novel you will read all year.

Winner of Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2019 Winner of Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year 2019 Winner of Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Audiobook of the Year 2019 Winner of New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards People's Choice Award 2019 Winner of Indie Book Awards Book of the Year 2019 Winner of Indie Book Awards Debut Fiction 2019 Short-listed for Voss Literary Prize 2019 Long-listed for Miles Franklin Literary Award 2019

Trent Dalton is a two-time Walkley Award–winning journalist and the international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, All Our Shimmering Skies, Love Stories, By Sea & Stars and Lola in the Mirror.At the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards, Dalton's debut novel Boy Swallows Universe (2018) won a record four awards, including the prestigious Book of the Year Award and has been published across thirty-four English language and translation territories. Lola in the Mirror was the winner of the 2024 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the 2023 QBD Book of the Year. It has sold over 320,000 copies across all formats since publication in October 2023.The television series Boy Swallows Universe, which aired in January 2024, was Netflix’s most successful Australian-made show to date. It ranked in the top 10 in 52 countries and reached the number one spot in Australia, number four in the UK and number six in the US. Dalton's latest novel is Gravity Let Me Go (2025). Stig Wemyss is Australia’s most loved audiobook narrator for children and young adults. He has lent his voice to the work of some of Australia’s most accomplished authors, including Andy Griffiths, Paul Jennings, Tim Winton, Marcus Zusak, Margaret Clarke and, most recently, Andrew Daddo. For the last three years he has been the recipient of the ABIA audiobook of the year award, including for the Trent Dalton's widely acclaimed debut novel Boy Swallows Universe. Stig has also written his own successful audiobook series entitled, The Tripp Diaries, which he narrates himself. His success and popularity have led him to develop a one-man comedy show for kids, Stig Live @ The Library, which he has performed in schools and libraries around Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

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