Monday, December 20, 2010

White Thorn by Bryce Courtenay


I recently ran out of my usual thrillers and in desperation read this book by Bryce Courtenay which someone had given to me but I had never got around to reading. Surprisingly, I was pretty much absorbed into the story and read the 600 plus pages over a couple of days. Bryce Courtenay can definitely tell a story!
The story is set in Africa and follows the life of Tom Fitzsaxby, from his beginnings in an orphanage, the Boys Farm, and culminating in his working as the prosecution lawyer in a murder trial. The story shows how Tom survives a lot of racial hatred and revolves around his getting justice for his friend Mattress, a Zulu who had befriended him as a child and was wrongly accused of sexual assault and subsequently murdered . For those of you who haven't read The Power of One this will be an amazing story, but for me I kept seeing the similarities to the main character, Peekay, from The Power of One. I cannot recommend The Power of One highly enough. It is definitely a must read!