On the unforgiving streets of 1920s Sydney, the Leach family have nothing but each other.
In a tale spanning decades, three children of the broken, working-class family find adventure, heartache and trouble, as their lives drift apart.
John finds faith and love at a young age. The inevitable clash between the two leads him into a different kind of brotherhood as war clouds gather.
Maureen dreams of a life ‘just like the movies’ and waits to be swept off her feet. Yet at every crossroad, she makes the wrong choice.
Bob discovers a natural talent with his fists and an instinct for trouble. But with every win he earns the hard way, more enemies rise.
From police corruption and gambling dens, to brothels and blood feuds, the Leach family toil in Sydney’s seedy underbelly and on battlefields far away.
Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and World War II, The Youngest Son chronicles one family’s mesmerising fate in a grand saga and a masterclass in epic storytelling.
Author John Byrnes has worked bars and doors in pubs and clubs all over Australia, on fishing trawlers out of Darwin, and served in the Australian Army.
Eventually, John put on a tie and studied economics, working for the Sydney Futures Exchange, Deutsche Bank and in financial services until 2023.
John started writing in 2015 and has a fascination with the darker aspects of the human condition — the addicted, the malevolent, the scarred. He cheers for the outsider, the slacker, the contrarian, the non-conformist.
Born in Sydney, John now lives on the NSW mid-north coast with his wife and three children.
The Youngest Son by John Byrnes is published by Macmillan, RRP $34.99.
GIVEAWAY
We have four copies of The Youngest Son to give away. For a chance to win a copy, send your name, address, daytime phone number and the answer to this question: Who won the Esquire Equestrienne Turnout competition at this year’s Melbourne Royal Show?
Entries close on Thursday, November 7 via post to: Country Life ‘Youngest’ Competition, PO Box 8000, Shepparton, 3632; or email to: competition@countrynews.com.au — please include the word ‘Youngest’ in the subject line.
WINNERS
The winners of a copy of Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids: Six Steps to Total Family Wellness are: Margaret Ballerini and Linda Gray. Congratulations! You can collect your prize from the Shepparton News office at 7940 Goulburn Valley Hwy, Shepparton.
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