Why a Booktrail?
1955: A powerful novel explores the controversial topic of the death penalty.
This Mortal Boy
What you need to know before your trail
Auckland, October 1955. If young Paddy Black sings to himself he can almost see himself back home in Belfast. Yet, less than two years after sailing across the globe in search of a better life, here he stands in a prison cell awaiting trial for murder. He pulled a knife at the jukebox that night, but should his actions lead him to the gallows? As his desperate mother waits on, Paddy must face a judge and jury unlikely to favour an outsider, as a wave of moral panic sweeps the island nation.
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This is a ficitonal retelling of the events that led to one of the last executions in New Zealand.
A young immigrant from Belfast arrives in New Zealand as a ‘ten pound Pom’ aboard a steamship searching for a better life. Within a few years, he had been arrested for pulling a knife out in a bar. What happened next was the trial of the century at the time with the central question being asked as to whether it should have led him to the gallows.
had his life ended at the gallows within the volcanic rock walls of Mt Eden prison in Auckland. Ironically, a stunning part of the city. His death would play a key part in New Zealand finally abolishing the death penalty, so this is an important story to be told.
The book also highlights and evokes well, life in the 1950, but paints a rather bleak picture of this period of great social change.
You get to find out a lot about teenagers at that time and the youth subculture. There was also a report written about the problems of youngsters which was sent to every home in the country. It blamed parents for the lack of respect amongst teenagers and promoted a return to the basics of proper discipline and even religious values.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: This Mortal Boy
Destination: New Zealand, Auckland, Wellington Author/guide: Fiona Kidman Departure Time: 1955
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