The Ballad of Billy Bean

The Ballad of Billy Bean is a novel for everyone aged ten and over, available through all good bookshops, online and offline, paperback, hardback, and ebook.

Here's a trailer I made, and there's more on the book including some where-to-buy links below the video.

London, 1913. Billy Bean is a street kid, and a thief. He’s also a talented performer, and he’s picked up by Fred Karno’s music–hall company. When Charlie Chaplin leaves Karno for the movies, Billy is sent to America to replace him. Billy wants to work in movies, too, and it’s not long before he gets his lucky break.

But his luck runs out and the movie career goes horribly wrong. Soon he’s on the streets again. He’s hoping that his childhood skills and a cheeky grin will keep him from starvation. But now his life is in danger.

Buying in the UK? If your local bookshop doesn't have stock, they can order it. Or you can get it online at, for example, Blackwells or Amazon (ebook also available).

In the USA, buy in bookshops, or through the publisher, Fitzroy Books as well as Amazon.

Published by Fitzroy Books, an imprint of Regal House Publishing, which was indie publisher of the year for Foreword Reviews Magazine in 2022.