MR MICAWBER DOWN UNDER by David Barry is published coinciding with Charles Dickens Bicentennial

Oct. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- The ever-optimistic Mr Micawber bids a fond farewell to David Copperfield and takes his family to Australia, confident their lives will change for the better. However, more than florid language and optimism is needed to survive in this brash new world that is Melbourne in 1855. Visits from the bailiffs, rent arrears  and his daughter Emma's betrothal to his landlord's son, already complicate poor Micawber's life, but when his son Wilkins introduces a young man with an ambiguous past who also has designs on Emma, it becomes more tangled. Micawber turns detective, and the mystery that he uncovers challenges even his own optimism and integrity.


About the Author:

David Barry began working as a child actor and toured Europe in Peter Brook's production of "Titus Andronicus", starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. He played Frankie Abbott in the '70s sitcoms "Please, Sir!" and "Fenn Street Gang".  David has written about his experiences in his outrageous memoirs entitled Flashback (2006). His debut crime novel Each Man Kills was published by Gomer Press in 2002 and his next crime thriller will be published by Robert Hale in January 2012.



Excerpt from the book:

 “As Young Wilkins folded another garment and packed it carefully in the trunk, he heard his mother sniffing loudly and turned to see if she was still weeping.  She appeared to be over the worst of it, but still dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a lace handkerchief and swallowed noisily.
 ‘Please don’t worry about me, Mama.  Sydney is no distance when you consider how far we have travelled from England.
 His mother cast her eyes around his small bedroom and gestured at the four walls with her handkerchief. ‘But your room, Young Wilkins, how shall I endure such emptiness?’
 ‘It may not be empty for very long.’
 ‘Of course:  Emma will no longer have to share with the twins and can move in here.’
 ‘Perhaps,’ Young Wilkins said with an enigmatic smile. ‘And then again, perhaps not.’
 Mrs Micawer frowned.  ‘Whatever do you mean?’
 Changing the subject hastily, Young Wilkins said, ‘I wonder where Papa is?  He’s been gone most of the afternoon.  I hope Tweeding and Hobson see his potential as a loyal employee.’
 For some reason she couldn’t fathom, Mrs Micawber felt despondent about her husband’s prospects.  It was a worry that was deeply embedded in her mind, and there was no concrete reason for her anxiety.  In the past, she had always been dedicated in her support of his abilities, but this time her intuition suggested there would be problems; and if asked to explain this lack of certainty that all would go well at Tweeding and Hobson, she would have been unable to provide a rational explanation.’”


MR MICAWBER DOWN UNDER can be ordered from Robert Hale at:

http://www.halebooks.com

and from Amazon.co.uk at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Micawber-Down-Under-Barry-David/d...

Media Contact:

Publisher:  Robert Hale
Tel.  0207 251 2661
Contact:  publicity@halebooks.com