'From one of Australia's most brilliant writers, a gripping true story about the tangled fates of two couples and the foster children trapped between them
'Michael and Mary Shelley are Christian fanatics who loathe their fellow Australians – especially their 'foul language, reckless indulgence of alcohol and obsession with idiotic ball sports'.
'Lenore and Tom Blaine are working-class Queensland publicans raising a large family in a raucous, loving, rugby-league-obsessed home.
'There's just one problem. The Blaines are foster parents to three of the Shelleys' children, who were removed from Michael and Mary as infants. And the Shelleys are prepared to do anything to get them back. Anything.
'Australian Gospel is a family saga like no other – heartbreaking, hilarious and altogether astonishing.' (Publication summary)
'Lech Blaine. Lucky bastard. Great stories fall in his lap, like butterflies alighting on an open hand. All he has to do is write them up.' (Introduction)
'Two Australian families go to war over their biological/foster offspring.'
'They say everyone has a book inside them. Some people are unfortunate enough to have more than one.' (Introduction)
'Author’s compassion and progressive vision of family stand out in incredible saga charting the acrimonious relationship between two families'
'On the afternoon of November 9, 1983, Michael Shelley kidnapped his son, Elijah, from his foster home in Brisbane with a hitchhiking hippie, Glen, as accomplice. Michael had picked up Glen only a few days earlier, but Glen was a lost young man looking for meaning and he’d met his perfect match in Michael, who was a charming megalomaniac looking for disciples.'(Introduction)
'They say everyone has a book inside them. Some people are unfortunate enough to have more than one.' (Introduction)
