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

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      First published in Australia in 2018 by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

      Copyright © Trent Dalton 2019

      Cover photograph © Mark Owen/Trevillion Images

      Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2020

      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: 9780008319281

      Ebook Edition © JUNE 2020 ISBN: 9780008319267

      Version: 2020-01-30

       Praise for Boy Swallows Universe:

      ‘Extraordinary … you will want this’

      Joanna Cannon, author of Three Things About Elsie

      ‘Chock full of magic and what it really means to be a good person. The Bell brothers will stay with me for a very long time’

      Rachael Brown, Guardian

      ‘Thrilling’

       New York Times

      ‘Many coming-of-age novels set in the 1980s are little more than a roll-call of pop songs, retro snack foods and chopper bikes. Not this one. This is a proper literary novel about addiction, poverty, parenting and the power of love … Dalton has created an electric novel out of a troubled childhood … it’s a lively, funny affirmation of the human instinct for survival in a hostile environment’

       The Times

      ‘Stellar … makes the typical coming-of-age novel look bland by comparison … This is an outstanding debut’

       Publishers Weekly

      ‘The best Australian novel I have read in more than a decade’

       Sydney Morning Herald

      ‘Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. The events of Eli’s life are often fatal and tragic, but fate and tragedy do not overpower the story. Eli’s remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what’s possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvellous’

       Washington Post

      ‘Marvellous … filled with beautifully lyric prose … exceptional’

      Booklist (Starred Review)

      ‘The most extraordinary writer – a rare talent’

      Nikki Gemmell

      ‘Unsuspectedly joyous … sad, warm, witty’

       The Australian

       Dedication

       For Mum and Dad.

       For Joel, Ben and Jesse.