List Containing Books Whitethorn

Title	:	Whitethorn
Author	:	Bryce Courtenay
Book Format	:	Hardcover
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 683 pages
Published	:	January 1st 2005 by Penguin Group
Categories	:	Fiction. Cultural. Africa. Southern Africa. South Africa. Historical. Historical Fiction

Whitethorn Hardcover | Pages: 683 pages

Commentary Concering Books Whitethorn

From Bryce Courtenay comes a new novel about Africa. The time is 1939. White South Africa is a deeply divided nation with many of the Afrikaner people fanatically opposed to the English.

The world is also on the brink of war and South Africa elects to fight for the Allied cause against Germany. Six-year-old Tom Fitzsaxby finds himself in The Boys Farm, an orphanage in a remote town in the high mountains, where the Afrikaners side fiercely with Hitler's Germany.

Tom's English name proves sufficient for him to be ostracised, marking him as an outsider. And so begin some of life's tougher lessons for the small, lonely boy. Like the Whitethorn, one of Africa's most enduring plants, Tom learns how to survive in the harsh climate of racial hatred. Then a terrible event sends him on a journey to ensure that justice is done. On the way, his most unexpected discovery is love.

This is a return to Africa for me, a revisiting of a past that wasn't always easy, but which nevertheless gave my childhood a richness and understanding that served me well in later life. After ten books set in my beloved Australia, Whitethorn is back to that fierce and dark landscape where kindness and cruelty, love and hate share the same backyard. I do hope you enjoy it.

Bryce Courtenay

Present Books Conducive To Whitethorn

Original Title:	Whitethorn
ISBN:	067002922X (ISBN13: 9780670029228)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Tom Fitzaxby
Setting:	South Africa

Rating Containing Books Whitethorn

Ratings: 4.08 From 2603 Users | 162 Reviews

Critique Containing Books Whitethorn

It was only Bryce Courtenay's death which led me to read this book - the first of his works I have ever tried. Reading his obituary in the Times I was surprised I had never heard of him and wanted to make up for that deficiency.I'm so glad I did. Whitethorn is a sweeping work which deals with many of the issues of today, set in the recent past of South Africa and Kenya. It's a doorstop of a volume - it could easily have been two or three books - and so it's taken me 3 weeks to find enough time

Possibly the best novel I have ever read and especially from a South African perspective. I could not put it down! Excellent!!

I fell in love with Bryce Courtenay over 20 years ago with his first novel The Power of One, he will always be one of my most favourite Authors. I can't even find the words to describe how excellent his command of the English language is, to be able engross me so much in his writing and storytelling. I just love all of his books.This was a book I listened to on audio and it was told by the amazing Humphrey Bower. His dulcet tones only enhance the story, so much so, I find I am missing him when I

Another superb book by Courtenay. This story of a white English orphaned boy growing up on a 'Boys Farm' in South Africa offers a great palette to highlight the socio/political landscape of the time. What I found most remarkable about the writing style was that he was able to write in the style according to the age of the main character, Tom Fitzaxby, so we get less detail and clear recollection of events when he is younger and then greater detail and smarter language as he grows up.A terrific

I found "The Power of One" by Courtney an excellent novel -- about Africa and about a young man's coming of age. After a break of many years writing about Australia, "Whitethorn" returns Courtney to South Africa in 2006, after huge political events have transformed the country. So I expected a very different (but very good) novel. But to my surprise, there is a great deal of this book that covers virtually the same ground as the "Power of One," though using somewhat different characters and some

Mr. Courtenay is up there with the best of the epic-sweep writers. His novels are usually more satisfying than Leon Uris' (except Exodus), and usually takes more care with individual characters than James Michener. "Mr. Courtenay's "Whitehorn" is a wonderful novel, and for readers gentle-of-heart, yes, there's lots of abject cruelty and hatred to be found among the obvious-villain characters, but not to an utterly dehumanizing degree. Prior to reading this novel, I knew little about the Boor

Bryce Courtenay has once again managed to immerse the reader in the real life drama of history and social injustice without becoming biased, political or preachy. It is the plot and characters of his narrative that tear into the very soul of his reader. Readers feel the injustices, cruelty and pain of the dysfunctional aspects of society. The story is more than a journey into the history of Kenya and South Africa, but more of an immersion into the lives of his characters in those settings. There