Boy Swallows Universe author Trent Dalton’s raw confession about the enormous toll his fame took on his personal life

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Trent Dalton, the Australian author behind a famous novel and the popular Netflix series based on it, reveals that achieving success required a significant personal sacrifice, despite overcoming a difficult upbringing.

Trent Dalton, author of *The Boy Swallows Universe*, revealed in this week’s *Stellar* magazine that his drive for success and growing fame negatively impacted his marriage to Fiona Franzmann.

BSU is deeply personal. I’ve really laid myself bare in this book, sharing my flaws, mistakes, and how my drive for success sometimes overshadowed what truly mattered, he explained.

You know, what truly matters to me is being present for my family – loving my wife and kids. It’s funny, the drive to create, the part of me that built everything, always needed to express itself, to tell stories. But honestly, that need sometimes came at a personal cost… I wasn’t always the husband I should have been, and that’s something I’ve had to come to terms with.

The father of two also revealed the difficulties behind his successful career – including the impact on his marriage, the regret he felt about sharing his family’s history, and the simple evenings he spends revisiting the Netflix show that launched him to fame.

He joked that being married to Trent Dalton is challenging because his wife often discovers new things about him through his books. He described it as a deeply odd way to get to know her husband, but said she handles it well.

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I’m incredibly happy in my relationship at 46, but I’m realistic – I don’t want to pretend the future will be easy or perfect.

Boy Swallows Universe has become a hit among streamers since its release in January 2024.

This series, based on a classic novel, tells the compelling story of two brothers, Eli and August, and their coming-of-age experiences in the suburbs of Brisbane during the 1980s.

The seven-episode series received widespread praise from both critics and viewers, who described it as beautiful and brilliant.

The series proudly features a cast of leading Australian actors. Phoebe Tonkin plays Frances Bell, the mother of the main character, and Travis Fimmel, known for his role in *Vikings*, plays Lyle Orlik, her partner in crime.

The book first captured the attention of Australian readers when it came out in 2018, as parts of the story were based on the author’s own childhood.

In a July 2018 interview with the Townsville Bulletin, Dalton shared that he was raised by two men who weren’t traditional role models.

His stepfather had a criminal record, and another troubling figure was a family friend named Arthur ‘Slim’ Halliday. Halliday was a convicted killer famous for escaping from Boggo Road prison – people called him ‘The Houdini of Boggo Road’ because of his ability to break free.

Dalton often described his stepfather as the first man he genuinely loved. Even as a child, he admired the man he considered his ‘Dad,’ despite knowing he was involved in criminal activity.

Young Dalton frequently questioned his stepfather about his friends and colleagues, but was always told he wouldn’t receive answers until he was older.

After his stepfather was arrested, the novelist channeled his curiosity about the man’s hidden past into a book, exploring questions that remained unanswered.

Arthur Halliday, a family friend, gained infamy in the 1940s after escaping from prison not once, but twice. He was later convicted in 1952 of murdering a taxi driver on Australia’s Gold Coast, having beaten him with a handgun.

Even as a child, Dalton didn’t seem bothered by what had happened, fondly remembering Halliday as a very funny and kind man.

Now a happy grandmother living in the suburbs, the author loved his mother more than anything – the woman who had once been caught up in a dangerous and difficult life.

In the TV series *Boy Swallows Universe*, the author combined the personalities of Trent Dalton’s three older brothers – Joel, Ben, and Jesse – into a single character named August Bell. August doesn’t speak, but communicates by writing mysterious predictions in the air.

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2025-09-21 08:19