First published 2001
Ned Kelly sits down to write his story in his own rough words. He starts as a boy watching his father die and his mother struggle to keep their family alive on the harsh Australian frontier. The police mark him early as trouble. They arrest his mother and threaten his siblings. Ned steals horses to survive and feeds his family however he can. The law pushes him further outside until he has no choice but to fight back. He forms a gang with his brother Dan and their friends. They rob banks and kill policemen who hunt them. Ned fashions armor from plow metal and declares war on the corrupt system that destroyed his family. He writes letters to newspapers explaining his cause. The people see him as their champion against the wealthy landowners and brutal police. But the net closes around him and his gang. In his own crude and passionate voice, Ned Kelly reveals how an orphaned farm boy became Australia's most famous outlaw and the country's beloved Robin Hood.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, crime, biographical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, gritty, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Australia, Australian Frontier
Period: 19th Century, 20th Century
355 pages · Paperback · Faber And Faber
Content warnings: violence