This author delves into the profound, often challenging aspects of the human experience. His works explore themes of survival, education, and the search for identity, set against diverse and sometimes harsh backdrops. With a distinctive voice that balances raw honesty with a warm humanism, he guides readers through worlds shaped by resilience, the influence of mentors, and unexpected turns of fate. His writing serves as a testament to the enduring strength of the spirit against adversity and the lasting impact of human connection.
Simon Koo is an ambitious Australian-born Chinese who goes to Singapore in the mid-sixties to work for Samuel Oswald Wing, an advertising agency. But the Wing brothers, who run the agency, are not what they seem. There is soon trouble when Simon falls in love with the forbidden Mercy B. Lord, the illegitimate daughter of a Japanese officer and a Chinese mother who abandoned her baby on the doorstep of a Catholic orphanage
From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay comes a colourful, lusty story set in the thirteenth century. The story of Sylvia Honeyeater, who sings like an angel and can literally charm the birds from the trees, this epic tale of a Europe torn by religious intolerance also features the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Francis of Assisi, the Muslim Sultan and his harem, as well as the fervour that became the Children�s Crusade and then later the Crusades � This will be the first of three volumes in what promises to be a broad, sweeping magnum opus.
The Persimmon Tree is unashamedly a love story. I've always wanted to write one but until now have been afraid to do so. The reason is simple enough: most men in my experience have very little idea of what really goes on in a woman's heart or head. Now, at the age of 74, I just might know enough and have sufficient courage to write on the subject - the way of a man with a woman, of a woman with a man.My story is set in the Pacific, although not in the paradise we've always been led to believe exists there. It is 1942 in Java and the Japanese are invading the islands like a swarm of locusts.I have tried to capture the essence of love - how in a world gone mad with malice and hate, it has the ability to forgive and to heal. As it is in this story, love is always hard earned but, in the end, a most wonderful and necessary emotion. Without love, life for most of us would lack true meaning.Sincerely,Bryce Courtenay
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. Visit brycecourtenay.com
Brother Fish is an Australian saga spanning eighty years and four continents. Inspired by real events, Bryce Courtenay's new book tells the story of three people from vastly differing backgrounds. All they have in common is a tough beginning in life. Jack McKenzie is a harmonica player, soldier, dreamer and small-time professional fisherman from a tiny island in Bass Strait. Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan is a strong-willed woman hiding from an ambiguous past in Shanghai. Larger than life, Private Jimmy Oldcorn was once a street kid and leader of a New York gang. Together, they reap a vast and not always legitimate fortune from the sea. Brother Fish is an inspiring human drama of three lives brought together and changed forever by the extraordinary events of recent history. But most of all it is about the power of friendship and love. Visit brycecourtenay.com
Ikey Solomon is the King Rat of the dark backstreets of 19th-century Stepney. A notorious criminal, his only fear is that Hannah, his resentful and ambitious wife, will force him to reveal his half of the combination to the safe in which their joint wealth is hidden.
The story revolves around the Solomon family as they navigate the aftermath of Mary Abacus's death, which leaves her vast business empire in their hands. Hawk Solomon is focused on uniting the divided factions of the tribe, but it is the younger generation that must confront challenges and strive to reshape their future. Themes of family conflict, legacy, and the struggle for unity are central to this narrative.
A story of the power of love and the triumph of the human spirit against the odds In a small town like any other small towns around Australia live the Maloneys. They are a fifth-generation Australian family of Irish Catholic descent who are struggling to reach the first rung of the social ladder. The Maloneys are a family you won't forget: a strong mother, a father broken by war, three boys and two girls, one of whom has an illegitimate daughter. Each of their lives is changed forever by the four fires – passion, religion, warfare and fire itself. 'Not since writing The Power of One have I felt this close to a book.' Bryce Courtenay Visit brycecourtenay.com
'A superb storyteller ... it is impossible not to be impressed by Courtenay's talents' - The Times JESSICA is based on the real life of a remarkable young Australian woman who defied the conventions of her time. She had a stubborn streak and the courage to act out her convictions ... in spite of the consequences. This compelling, sweeping story is her personal fight for justice against enormous odds, and a testimony to the power of the human spirit to triumph over adversity.
Tandia is a child of all Africa: half Indian, half African, beautiful and intelligent, she is only sixteen when she is first brutalised by the police. Her fear of the white man leads her to join the black resistance movement, where she trains as a terrorist. With her in the fight for justice is the one white man Tandia can trust, the welterweight champion of the world, Peekay. Now he must fight their common enemy in order to save both their lives.