Is Boy Swallows Universe a true story? The real tale behind the tear-jerking Netflix series

Fans want to know if Boy Swallows Universe is a true story, as the new Netflix series receives glowing reviews from viewers. 

On January 11th Netflix released a brand new series set in 1980s Australia which focuses on a young boy named Eli Bell growing up in difficult circumstances. The comedy-drama shows Eli's struggles with his school and home life, with a recovering heroin addict mother, his clairvoyant mute brother and his heroin-dealing stepfather.

The series focuses on some dark themes in a comedic and lighthearted way that viewers love as the show makes them laugh out loud and shed a few tears. Although many love the new show, some are curious about what inspired this story and want to know if it's based on a book or a true story. Here's what you need to know...

Is Boy Swallows Universe a true story?

Boy Swallows Universe is a true story. The series from Netflix is based on a semi-biographical novel by Trent Dalton of the same name. Although the author changed the names in his book and embellished certain events, he has explained in several interviews that his book is inspired by his real life.

Speaking to Mediaweek, Trent said that the book was "50/50” fact and fiction." He said, "It’s from my real life" and that Eli "does a lot of what I would have [done if I could]. It was all wishful thinking. All the fiction was wishful thinking."

Boy Swallows Universe, By Trent Dalton, £9.99 | Amazon

This best-selling novel by journalist Trent Dalton was released in 2019 and has now been made into a Netflix series.

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In the same interview the author complimented the actors for bringing his work to life, "I see my brother in Lee. I see myself in Felix. I see my mum in this extraordinary actress, Phoebe. I see my dear friend Slim Halliday in the extraordinary national treasure, Bryan frickin Brown…" He added, "And Simon Baker, who made my 16-year-old daughter weep for her dead grandfather and made her understand who that guy really was."

On Harper Collins publishers website, the author spoke about his process of writing the novel and explained that he mostly recalled memories of his childhood.

"The research was really remembrance. Remembering all those years when the world around my small family crumbled. When people we loved were being taken away.  When things we thought true were being turned false. Heads were being slammed into fibro walls.  Dangerous people were knocking on doors at daytime," he said. 

Speaking to Townsville Bulletin, the author spoke lovingly about how his mother inspired him to write the novel. "Mum is my hero," he said. "She inspired the character Frankie Bell and I don’t have enough words in the book to go on about all the things my mum survived, things that other people would have succumbed to."

A key change in the book is that Trent distilled his three brothers Joel, Ben, and Jesse into Eli's brother August."The things that happened to the kid, Eli, were very familiar to me and my brothers and I," he said."Across a period of about 15 years, I kind of saw a mess of drug abuse, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and anxiety."

"I’ve always wondered, some things I’ve seen growing up, what did it do to you and how have I processed that?" he asked rhetorically. Trent Dalton has worked as a journalist and author and has now released six books in fiction and non-fiction. He has a wife and two daughters and has won several literary awards.