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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
At the age of ten, and just short of four feet tall, a boy from Ballarat named Johnny Day became Australia’s first international sporting hero. Against adult competition he wooed crowds across continents as the World Champion in pedestrianism, the sporting craze of the day.
'A few years later, in 1870, he won the Melbourne Cup on a horse aptly called Nimblefoot, this time impressing British royalty and Melbourne’s high society. And then, still aged only fourteen, this already-famous athlete and jockey disappeared without a trace.
'Robert Drewe picks up where history leaves off, re-imagining Johnny’s life following his great Cup win. Celebrations that night land him in the company of Prince Alfred himself and some key Melbourne identities. But when Johnny becomes a reluctant witness to two murders in the town’s most notorious brothel, he finds himself on the run again – this time from the law itself.
'In fear of his life he heads west, assuming different identities to outsmart his pursuers. Yet all the while Johnny fears his luck will soon run out.
'Johnny Day is a character that couldn’t be invented, but in the masterful re-imagining of his life Robert Drewe brings us an adventure story, a coming-of-age classic, a man-hunt, a thriller – but most of all, a rollicking good yarn. And in doing so, he lays claim to Johnny Day’s rightful place in Australia’s illustrious sporting history.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Author's note: In loving memory of Amy and Ben
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Journey into the Unknown
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 6 August 2022; (p. 17)
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel' One of the beauties of historical fiction lies in its ability to peel back layers of accepted “facts” in order to dramatise events as they might have been. Robert Drewe is a master of this technique, and something of a magician who delights in delivering the jolt of the reveal. Fascinated by an 1866 faded sepia portrait of a small 10-year-old Australian boy, Johnny Day, displayed in the National Library of Australia, the author began researching the boy’s history. The photograph is reproduced in his novel, Nimblefoot.' (Introduction)
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In Nimblefoot, Robert Drewe Returns to Historical Fiction After More Than 25 Years
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 8 August 2022;
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel''Nimblefoot is the eighth novel by Robert Drewe. His first, The Savage Crows, was published in 1976. He is the author of four collections of short stories, two memoirs, and numerous works in a variety of other forms.'
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Robert Drewe on Finding Australia’s Child Phenomenon : ‘I Thought, “Why Hasn’t Anyone Heard of Him?”’
Susan Chenery
(interviewer),
2022
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 August 2022; -
‘Essential’, ‘Quietly Hopeful’, ‘Propulsive’: The Best Australian Books Out in August
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 5 August 2022;
— Review of Train Lord 2022 single work autobiography ; Desire : A Reckoning 2022 single work autobiography ; Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel ; The Wrong Woman 2022 single work novel ; Every Version of You 2022 single work novel -
Reckless as a Rule : Robert Drewe’s Ambivalence Towards History
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 445 2022; (p. 25-26)
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel 'The National Portrait Gallery owns a minuscule sepia studio photograph titled ‘Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian’. From this curious gumnut, Robert Drewe has created a sprawling multi-limbed eucalypt.'(Introduction)
-
Reckless as a Rule : Robert Drewe’s Ambivalence Towards History
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 445 2022; (p. 25-26)
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel 'The National Portrait Gallery owns a minuscule sepia studio photograph titled ‘Master Johnny Day, Australian Champion Pedestrian’. From this curious gumnut, Robert Drewe has created a sprawling multi-limbed eucalypt.'(Introduction)
-
‘Essential’, ‘Quietly Hopeful’, ‘Propulsive’: The Best Australian Books Out in August
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 5 August 2022;
— Review of Train Lord 2022 single work autobiography ; Desire : A Reckoning 2022 single work autobiography ; Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel ; The Wrong Woman 2022 single work novel ; Every Version of You 2022 single work novel -
In Nimblefoot, Robert Drewe Returns to Historical Fiction After More Than 25 Years
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 8 August 2022;
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel''Nimblefoot is the eighth novel by Robert Drewe. His first, The Savage Crows, was published in 1976. He is the author of four collections of short stories, two memoirs, and numerous works in a variety of other forms.'
-
Journey into the Unknown
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 6 August 2022; (p. 17)
— Review of Nimblefoot 2022 single work novel' One of the beauties of historical fiction lies in its ability to peel back layers of accepted “facts” in order to dramatise events as they might have been. Robert Drewe is a master of this technique, and something of a magician who delights in delivering the jolt of the reveal. Fascinated by an 1866 faded sepia portrait of a small 10-year-old Australian boy, Johnny Day, displayed in the National Library of Australia, the author began researching the boy’s history. The photograph is reproduced in his novel, Nimblefoot.' (Introduction)
-
Robert Drewe on Finding Australia’s Child Phenomenon : ‘I Thought, “Why Hasn’t Anyone Heard of Him?”’
Susan Chenery
(interviewer),
2022
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 August 2022;
Awards
- 2023 shortlisted Voss Literary Prize
- 2023 longlisted HNSA Historical Novel Prize — Adult
- 2023 shortlisted Colin Roderick Award
- 2023 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Premier's Prize for Book of the Year Award
- Melbourne, Victoria,
- 1870