Keneally can take characters and events from history and weave some amazing stories around them.

In the late 1800s, rather than run the risk of his underachieving sons tarnishing his reputation at home, Charles Dickens sent two of them to Australia.

This tale tells the imagined story of Edward, the tenth child of the esteemed author, as he tries to 'achieve' something with his life. Away from the pressures of being a Dickens, Edward is allowed to find his own path in life and to come to terms with his family and the expectations of them and himself.

Beautifully written, the characters literally jump off the pages. They are vivid, real, and highlight the early days of the Aussie larakin. ( )

In 1868, Edward Dickens, the tenth child of the famous author, emigrates to Australia to learn the sheep business. Just shy of his seventeenth birthday, he arrives with far more psychological baggage than physical possessions. Besides the name he can’t possibly live up to, which prompts everyone he meets to draw faulty conclusions about him, he has failed to apply himself at everything he’s ever attempted, save cricket. As he is all too aware, he doesn’t appear promising material. He also bears the cultural, social, and religious prejudices you’d expect of a righteous Victorian, some of which may work against him in the outback.

But young Plorn, as the family calls him — an abbreviation of an immense nickname — has two advantages. He desires to learn and will take instruction from anyone; and he has his older brother, Alfred, who has preceded him to Australia. That Alfred is named for Tennyson, and Plorn, for Edward Bulwer Lytton (who wrote, “It was a dark and stormy night”), hints at the burden they carry. But for Plorn, it’s even worse, because the entire continent seems composed of people who have memorized his father’s works and suppose he has done the same, when, in fact, he has never read a word of them.

From this ingenious premise, Keneally spins a delightful, often hilarious, wide-ranging coming-of-age novel. You have the usual themes, such as sexual awakening, learning to adjust abstract moral sense to real-life circumstances, and how to judge another person in his or her fullness, allowing for their imperfections. To that, add what it means to be a family outcast in a country colonized by outcasts. Plorn is convinced that Father sent him away out of love, but Alfred is less sure, and their differing points of view about that, and their father’s character, cause conflict. This issue occupies Plorn throughout the novel.

Plorn may adapt rather rapidly, perhaps conveniently, but you have to admire how he lets his insistence that he has none of his father’s gifts stand for the wish to be taken as his own man. Inwardly, he has doubts about who that man is, but he derives warmth and satisfaction from people saluting his individuality — welcome to the democracy of the outback. He also has enough sense to avoid employers to whom he has an introduction and seek someone more to his liking, at which he succeeds admirably.

Fred Bonney, who manages a sheep station with intelligent tolerance, teaches young Plorn all he needs to know about sheep ranching and encourages his rise. A better mentor would be hard to find, and if Fred happens to be the one rancher who tries to understand and befriend the Indigenous people (though unapologetic about having taken their land), consider that a lucky Dickensian coincidence. But Keneally makes the most of it, and even when the story turns harsh, even murderous, kindness isn’t far away. That too is a theme, whether humans are innately evil with occasional good impulses, or good with occasional evil ones.

Keneally wishes to celebrate the frontier ethic, in which a person’s deeds and capabilities often, but not always, matter more than his or her birth. As such, you can pretty much tell the good guys from the bad guys without a scorecard, and they seldom do anything to challenge the judgment; perhaps that’s Dickensian too. However, laughter levels that broad-brush approach, with a theatrical tone that Dickens himself might have admired.

Naturally, a girl figures in the story, and though I wish the adjective “pretty” did not introduce her every appearance, I like how Keneally portrays Plorn’s sexual confusion.

The Dickens Boy is a thoroughly enjoyable novel. I would have wanted more variation within some of the characters to match the way the author poses moral problems, as shades of gray. But it’s a worthy book nonetheless. ( )

A terrific book, bounded along, loved the history, fictionalised account was interesting, really enjoyed being in this story. ( )

Edward Dickens was the youngest son of Charles Dickens and a worry to his father because he never "applied himself" So at the age of 16 he was sent to Australia in hopes that he can make something of himself and if needed be with his brother Alfred who was also sent there. Edward has never read one of his father's books and manages to evade most questions about his very popular and famous father. Apparently Charles Dickens was a sort of mega star of Victorian England and even the farthest reaches of Australia people can quote from his books.

Edward goes to a sheep ranch covering thousands of acres owned by the Bonney brothers, one a famous photographer and advocate for the native aborigines. Edward's adventures almost read like a Dicken novel at times with some very unusual characters. He finds that class and culture are completely different in Australia but that there are many Britons holding up the British lifestyle.

Although somewhat draggy at times, at times funny, and filled with interesting characters and events including the mourning of his father from that distant land. Good read. ( )

Historical fiction is a tricky business, and those who tangle with it are always having to balance the historical and biographical details with engaging and convincing character and story. Alas, Kenneally (who has done it well in the past), seems to be getting lazy in this one. When the writer pauses a character's thoughts or speech by inserting something like: "...I said, remembering that once my guvnor wrote...." - it's not working. While reasonably framed as experts teaching the newcomer Plorn about the land and work to which he has just arrived, some passages just read as info-dumps. Details of dress and food don't really serve much purpose in illuminating characters and settings except to show that Kenneally apparently knows what kind of shirts or boots people wore in 19th century Australia - you'd think he'd have seen how to do that much better by reading, oh, say, Dickens?

A limp main character and clunky writing didn't hold me and I abandoned poor Plorn to the outback. ( )