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Cover of First Australian Hardback Edition of True History of the Kelly Gang
First Australian Hardback Edition;


Imagining Ned Kelly

But this history is for you and will contain no single lie, may I burn in Hell if I speak false.
—Peter Carey, writing as Ned Kelly

True History of the Kelly Gang

True History of the Kelly Gang imagines the character of one of Australia’s most famous and yet most mysterious individuals, Ned Kelly.

Inspired by the language and the passion of Kelly’s Jerilderie letter, Carey wrote his novel as an extended letter from Kelly to a supposed daughter.

He merged fact with fiction, taking as his starting point the information that is known about Kelly’s actions and ideas, and then filling in the gaps with an imagined narrative. The voice that he created for Kelly is raw and uneducated but also eloquent, like the voice of the Jerilderie letter itself.

Carey's novel has proven extremely popular and has been translated into many languages and reprinted in various editions, some of which are featured on this website. 

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