Ricky
A boy in colonial Australia.
Set in Sydney, NSW, in the 1840s.
***
Ricky English
and his mother move from England to join his father in the new Colony of Sydney. On arrival, there is no sign of his father. Ricky's mum uses the tiny amount of money they brought to get lodgings in a run-down building. Things go from bad to worse when his mother dies, he is thrown out of their rented room, and the caretakers confiscate all their possessions.
Ricky lives on the streets of Sydney Town as a street waif. He finds safe places to sleep and befriends freed convicts who can help him survive. He sees a child kidnapped, and he helps reunite her with her family. These people try to help him, but because of his stubbornness, he insists on doing things his way. However, he has now found a mentor and confidante.
The story follows him through his life.
Tad, Will
and
Jenny
become far more than just friends. He survives and turns his life around, helping others along the way.
Buy '
Ricky'
to discover how he copes as an abandoned child in a convict penal settlement.
The missing threads of Will's life are found in Sara Powter's
"
Jonty's Journey
."