The Youngest Son

By: John Byrnes

Narrated by: Tamblyn Lord

On the unforgiving streets of 1920s Sydney, the Leach family have nothing but each other. Three children of this broken working-class family find adventure, heartache and trouble as over the decades their lives drift apart...

John finds faith and love at a young age. The inevitable clash between the two leads him into a different kind of brotherhood as war clouds gather.

Maureen dreams of a life 'just like the movies' and waits to be swept off her feet. Yet at every crossroad, she makes the wrong choice.

Bob discovers a natural talent with his fists and an instinct for trouble. But with every win he earns the hard way, more enemies rise.

The Leach family scrabble for survival both in Sydney's seedy underbelly – wrestling with police corruption and blood feuds, in brothels and gambling dens – and on battlefields far away.

©2024 John Byrnes (P)2025 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

'The Youngest Son takes the sag out of saga and with unrelenting pace and sheer page turning energy, delivers a powerhouse performance of epic proportion.' (Sydney Arts Guide)

'This wildly entertaining epic is an absolute must-read.' (Iain Ryan, author of The Strip)