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How my mysterious childhood became a best-selling novel

Trent Dalton discovered he was on the fringe of one of Australia鈥檚 biggest crime stories.

Trent Dalton discovered he was on the fringe of one of Australia鈥檚 biggest crime stories.聽

Back in the 1980s, when Trent was a kid growing up in Brisbane, he discovered that there was a secret underground room behind his stepfather's wardrobe. There were plenty of other strange things happening to him too. Like when he found a bundle of cash in the pocket of his bathrobe. Or there were the rumours that his babysitter was a murderer. It took Trent many years before he untangled these mysteries and found out the reality of his childhood. He used his life story as inspiration for his debut novel Boy Swallows Universe, which became the fastest selling in Australian history.

Presenter: Saskia Collette
Producers: Saskia Collette and Andrea Kennedy

Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

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40 minutes

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  • Lives Less Ordinary

    Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected. Extraordinary personal stories