Always enjoy Bryce Courtenay books

Bryce Courtenay Writing style is just Brillant. This story of a white English orphaned boy called Tom Fitzaxby growing up on a 'Boys Farm' in South Africa.
Fitzsaxby learns about his own strengths and weaknesses through those around him, and while he discovers the truth about the boy’s farm and the cruelty over the years as well as what he had to deal with, his greatest success is to somewhat resolve the issues of his childhood by using his fine mind.
His main character growing up from a bullied orphan in a hideous Afrikaans institution to being a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. His journey is mostly in 50s and 60s South Africa, but also in Kenya's Mau Mau uprising. Another brilliant book by Bryce Courtenay thanks for your passion, another great writer gone but never forgotten.

Courtenay hits another book out of the ballpark with this novel, even though it's the same ballpark and players as his novel The Power of One -- which is and remains one of my top ten all time favorite books.

Tom Fitzsaxby narrates the story as an onlooker to his own life, starting when he was just a child of 5 or 6 struggling to stay unbruised at an orphanage where, by the mere Englishness of his name, he was tormented by Afrikaners who had grown up learning to hate and resent all things English.

>Survival, coming of age, racial inequality, hardship, poverty, WWII, naziism, racism, bullying, sexual abuse, pedophilia all come into play throughout the course of Tom's life. I happened to have listened to the book on audio and the narrator was superb, bringing to life the different accents, from elite English, to lower Afrikaner.

>I wouldn't recommend reading this book if you've recently read the Power of One, but otherwise, it is an engrossing tale of South Africa and coming of age.

I’m not even sure how to review this.

Here’s my dilemma. The Power of One is my favorite book of all time. I’ve loved it since I was a kid. The movie (though the movie is nothing like the book) was what first sparked my interest in South Africa. And so I sought out the book shortly after and loved it. I also really enjoyed Tandia, which was the sequel to The Power of One.

And here’s the problem. This book, in many, many ways, is virtually the same story as The Power of One. So I’m mad. So much of it is the same. It’s longer, so some different stuff happens, and the detailed characters are different, but so many of the events and the arc are the SAME. And the mine trainer is the same dude in both books!!!

So do I give it a low rating because it is the same and made me mad? Or do I give it a high rating because it’s the same and I loved the first one?

I went with a higher rating because even though I found myself mad and exasperated so many times, I did ultimately largely enjoy the story. The main character got to be a bit insufferable for me (‘oh, everything just happens to me and it all turns out amazingly well I’m so lucky!) but, what can I say, I’m a sucker for Bryce Courtenay’s Africa books.

So here is am, still conflicted.

Historical fiction 1930's South Africa..
A young boy's story living at a orphanage. Available at Minto public library N.B

A gripping story of love and justice, which stays with you long after you turned the last page.

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

I'd heard lots of praise for Bryce Courtney and he lived up to all the recommendations. Great piece of historical fiction with wonderful character development. I learned a lot about South Africa and specifically, the movement of the Afrikaners who were so opposed to the colonial power of Great Britain that they (not so secretly) sided with Hitler during the World War II. Young Tom Fitzsaxby grows up in a South Africa which was divided by racial hatred and bigotry yet he manages to survive and prosper. Readers will cringe at his struggles and cheer for his triumphs.

I am a huge Bryce Courtnay fan, and have now read or listened to all but 3 of his works. My favourite has always been the first, The Power of One. However, there is a new candidate for the title. I was absolutely enthralled by Whitethorn, even though I was a little worried by the descriptions of events in Kenya simply because of a British military connection in my family to that conflict.

Humphrey Bower never ceases to amaze me as a reader, and has now become my favourite audiobook narrator. The way he is able to take on the appropriate voice for each character is nothing short of spectacular.

All in all this is another brilliant effort from a wonderful author.

This novel is a 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 narrative voice of the young Tom. The naivety inherent in this child's perspective allows Courtenay to explore and comment on aspects of racism without ever becoming preachy or trite.

The story is peopled with a variety of fascinating characters of differing racial and social backgrounds, allowing us a glimpse into the subtly different ways that racism manifests itself. At times the plot is a trifle contrived and Tom seems to be the recipient of just a few too many lucky breaks, but the overall storyline is gripping as well as containing many interesting historical details. Overall the novel is an insightful window onto the nature of racial conflict in southern Africa.

A rehash of The Power of One. For the longest time I actually thought I was re-reading the same book. Quite disappointing.

I must say that all these nonsense reviews are from people comparing one book to another. I'm quite willing to wager than none of them have written anything worth buying and their opinions are their own. No more.
Whitethorn was a great read.