Dodger Down Under - Softcover

"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

David Weston was born in London and educated at Alleyn's School Dulwich where he was taught by Michael Croft and became a founder-member of the National Youth Theatre. After National Service, where he was commissioned in the Royal Artillery, he won a scholarship to RADA. He has been a working actor for more than fifty years, doing everything from starring in Hollywood films, many seasons at the RSC and the National, appearing in twenty nine of Shakespeare's plays - to Eastenders and Doctor Who. His first book, Covering McKellen, described as 'Hugely enjoyable' by the Daily Telegraph and 'Salty, evocative and informative' by the Daily Mail, won the Theatre Book of the Year Prize for 2011. Dodger - Down Under, his first novel, follows the adventures of Jack Dawkins, aka the Artful Dodger, following his transportation to Australia. David lives in Pimlico with his wife and dotes on four grandchildren, a cocker spaniel and Chelsea FC.