True Story of the Kelly Gang

Peter Carey, the author of True Story of the Kelly Gang, once remarked that anyone who puts the word 'true' in a work of fiction is indicating that this is definitely not a true story. In this work of historical fiction the Australian bushranger, Ned Kelly, writes an account of his life to his young daughter. It is the story of his family - an Irish Catholic family - living in country Victoria in the nineteenth century. The struggling family is under surveillance by the local police with family members often in gaol. Eventually some family members, including Ned Kelly, turn to bushranging.

Ned Kelly and his gang have become part of the folklore of Australia. There have been many books, television series and films based on the life of Ned Kelly. Peter Carey tells this version of the story from Ned's viewpoint while he is in prison in Melbourne. There are conflicting views about the life of Ned Kelly - a person struggling to survive in an antagonistic environment or a criminal.

True Story of the Kelly Gang, published in 2000, won many awards including the Booker Prize (2001), Commonwealth Writers Prize (2001) two awards, Courier Mail Book of the Year (2001), The Age Book of the Year (2001) two awards,Queensland Premier's Literary Awards (2001) fiction award, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Vance Palmer Award for Fiction (2001), Festival Awards for Literature (SA), The Premier's Award (2002) two awards, One Book One, Brisbane (2002) winner, Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Award (2000) winner, Colin Roderick Award Best Australian Book (2000) winner, Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (France) (2003) winner, Booksellers Choice Award (2000) shortlisted, Miles Franklin Award (2001) shortlisted, International Dublin Literary Award (2002) shortlisted.

True History of the Kelly Gang - ANZ LitLovers 

True History of the Kelly Gang - The Guardian 

Moving among strangers

In 1965 the book, To the islands by Randolph Stow was on the Matriculation reading list. I had never read a book like this before and was particularly fascinated with the descriptions of the Australian outback and the moral issues faced by the characters. I thank my English teacher for her enthusiasm for the book and for introducing me to the works of Randolph Stow. I later read and enjoyed Tourmaline and years read Stow's children's book, Midnite: the story of a Wild Colonial Boy, with my children. Unfortunately Randolph Stow has become a neglected author in Australian literature.

I was therefore interested to read this book by Gabrielle Carey which has the subtitle, Randolph Stow and my family. Carey's mother had been a friend of Stow and the discovery of a few letters prompted the author to discover more about the life of Randolph Stow, his relationship with her family and in consequence discover much about the history of her family. To a large extent the book is about uncovering family stories that have been hidden over time. It also demonstrates the importance of not taking one person's version of events as necessarily being the truth. In her search Carey meets members of her family in Western Australia that the previous generation would have nothing to do with and that meeting provides a different interpretation of the family story. Conversely in England she needs to speak to many people who knew Stow to try and piece together the later years of his life in exile away from Australia.

After reading this book I now want to reread To the islands and Tourmaline and also another title by Stow, The merry-go-round in the sea. I also need to find our copy of Midnite so that our grandchildren can read it when they are older. The book however is also a useful example of how one can uncover the stories that are important to understanding how a family has evolved over time and actions that have affected actions of family members.