Point Books Toward Whitethorn

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

Whitethorn Hardcover | Pages: 683 pages

Present Regarding Books Whitethorn

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

Narrative In Pursuance Of 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

Rating Regarding Books Whitethorn

Ratings: 4.08 From 2603 Users | 162 Reviews

Appraise Regarding Books Whitethorn

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

I learned that you cannot control many of the things that happen in your life, but you can control how you react to them. Never underestimate the power of an individual to change his/her own world through a vision, commitment, and perseverance. That is a common theme that runs through many of Courtenay's books and one of the main reasons I enjoy them so much.

Pretty much a re-hash of Power of One. There are plot and character elements which are so similar it's ridiculous - growing up as the lone English boy in an aggressive Afrikaner community, boxing, a murdered black friend, becoming a lawyer and so on.

Whitethorne is passionate, demanding and unputdownable. Tom Fitzsaxby is an orphan. It is 1939 and the eve of World War II. Some Afrikaners believe Hitler will liberate South Africa. Tom is six years old and has an English name. He is open to abuse from the Afrikaans staff at the orphanage. Toms only friend is Mattress, known as the pig boy. The boys work together to hide his beloved puppy, Tinker. After Mattress is murdered, Tom promises that will avenge his friend. A teacher visiting the town

Whitethorn is another example of Bryce Courtenay's innate ability to tell a story from the POV of a young boy. When I read this book, which I've done several times, I can see the world through they eyes of six year old Tom Fitzsaxby. The story is poignant in that the young boy accepts the treatment he receives as if it's deserved. It's a heartbreaking, and ultimately satisfying read, one which I highly recommend.

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!!