True History of the Kelly Gang

"I lost my own father at 12 yr. of age and know what it is to be raised on lies and silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false."

In True History of the Kelly Gang, the legendary Ned Kelly speaks for himself, scribbling his narrative on errant scraps of paper in semiliterate but magically descriptive prose as he flees from the police. To his pursuers, Kelly is nothing but a monstrous criminal, a thief and a murderer. To his own people, the lowly class of ordinary Australians, the bushranger is a hero, defying the authority of the English to direct their lives. Indentured by his bootlegger mother to a famous horse thief (who was also her lover), Ned saw his first prison cell at 15 and by the age of 26 had become the most wanted man in the wild colony of Victoria, taking over whole towns and defying the law until he was finally captured and hanged. Here is a classic outlaw tale, made alive by the skill of a great novelist.


Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 12/04/2001
ISBN: 9780375724671
Pages: 384
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.34w x 0.81d
Award: International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - Nominee

Review Citations: Entertainment Weekly 11/23/2001 pg. 73
New York Times 11/25/2001 pg. 32
New York Times 12/02/2001 pg. 89
BookPage 01/01/2002 pg. 25
Booksense '76 Jan/Feb 2002 01/01/2002 pg. 1
Christian Century 04/10/2002 pg. 41

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 49826 / True History of the Kelly Gang
Reading Level: 6.9 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 22