"Delightful Dickensian pastiche. Readers will definitely be clamouring for more." - Mail on Sunday
London 1827. Jack Dawkins, the Artful Dodger, is sentenced to transportation to Australia as a common thief. But Dodger certainly isn't common and sees transportation as the start of just another 'artful' adventure. Abel Magwitch, convict cricketers, sadistic officers, a heroic pugilist and a smattering of girls of easy virtue accompany Dodger on a journey of action, adventure and discovery.
This meticulously researched novel will appeal to Dickens aficionados and the general reader alike. Micawber, Nell, Peggotty, the villainous Monks, and Dickens himself are all beautifully woven into the dramatic events of Dodger - Down Under.
"Clever and great fun " - Jeffrey Archer
"A right ripping yarn. Mr Weston writes 'trippingly off the tongue'." - Ian McShane
"I have always thought the Artful Dodger's story needed telling and now David Weston has told it, in a wonderfully engaging way." - Julian Fellowes
"A terrific read and a great literary conceit" - Barrie Rutter
"Imaginative, powerful and beautifully written." - Robert Hardy