other vintage paperback courtenay

books:

1 review
Bryce Courtenay

Penguin, 2008

Brilliant portrait of the subtleties of racism
Tom Fitzsaxby is an orphan whose English surname ensures that he will be a total outcast in the rural Afrikaner orphanage he grows up in. The story follows Tom through the years of WWII and the post-war years until he is in his thirties. During this time he is dogged by the legacy of the racism that was rampant in the community of his childhood. The early stages of the book are written using the ...

Whitethorn Woods (Vintage)

87 reviews
Maeve Binchy

Anchor, 2008

traditions change, too
Binchy's characters are so intensely real, it take a while to realize each person also represents a social layer and each person's choice also implies a political truth. The vivid personalities capture you as they gather into a community of individuals doing their work or committing their crime in the best way they know how. They tell their stories as oral histories, and when you are included ...

Whitethorn (Paperback) Bryce Courtenay
Courtenay

Penguin, 2007

Synopsis 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 frantically 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 ...

Whitethorn

4 reviews
Bryce Courtenay

Viking Books, 2005

Great storytelling - but haven't I read this before?
Let me start by saying this is a great coming of age story about a young boy Tom Fitzsaxby growing up during the 40's and 50's in South Africa. The writing style is written as if Tom is more of an observer of his life than a participant in it. This gives the book an unusual tone that is well both told and absorbing. By why the three stars then? Point One; Well 'haven't I read this before?'. ...