Aidan Phelan – illustratör

Joe was a widow''s teenage son with dreams of something better than life on a dairy farm.

Ah Nam was a miner with a taste for booze, women, gambling and fighting.

By a twist of fate their paths would cross and Joe''s life would never be the same again.

Georgina Stones shines a light on a forgotten chapter in the early life of one of Australia''s most infamous outlaws and brings to light some of the forgotten denizens of Beechworth, with original illustrations by Aidan Phelan, as well as essays, contemporary images and articles.

The year is 1876, and Joe Byrne is wrestling with the loyalty he has to his best friend, Aaron Sherritt, and his loyalty to his family. When Aaron comes to him with a proposition to benefit both parties, Joe makes a decision that will lead him to the darkest place he can imagine: Beechworth Gaol. Georgina Stones explores this rarely examined part of the history of Joe Byrne through dramatised narrative and her extensive historical research. With original illustrations as well as archival material including news reports and photographs, Stones brings her readers into a bygone era where loyalty was everything and life rarely went to plan.