1901. The slide clunks into the lantern, and Phantoms
come alive on the wall. The father-and-son Magic Lantern
team of Bert and Tom Eliot are masters of The Art of the
Story. The only problem is that they are missing a wife and
mother. Then one morning eleven-year-old Tom wakes to
find his father missing, too.
The Lanternist’s apprentice is thrown out of home, forced
to work for the arch-criminal Jimmy Sacks, arrested and
imprisoned. Will he ever be able to escape with his new
friend Max and make the long, flea-bitten, rat-infested
journey to Sydney in search of his parents?
The Lanternist is a story about stories, and how they show
us a way through life, despite callous landladies, corrupt
officials, criminal companions and the problems with
living in incinerators. But mostly, it is about searching, and
making your own endings.
