Bryce Courtenay Books

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Bryce Courtenay was a successful South African-Australian author best known for ‘The Power of One.’ Born in 1933 in Lebombo Mountains, Johannesburg, Courtenay’s parents were not married.

Arthur Ryder had a wife and six children. They all lived in the same home. However, he maintained a relationship with Maude Greer, Courtenay’s mother. Maude gave her son and daughter (Rosemary) the ‘Courtenay’ surname.

Anyone that reads ‘The Power of One’ has a vague understanding of the author’s childhood because the book is autobiographical. Although Courtenay eventually admitted to exaggerating some of the events.

The author’s life in Africa was far from easy. He went to school in Johannesburg before running off to the copper mines in Zimbabwe during his teenage years. Courtenay saved his earnings until he had enough to migrate to London, where he studied journalism.

You can trace Courtenay’s love affair with Australia to the woman he met and married. The pair eventually moved to Sydney, New South Wales, where they planted roots. Their marriage officially ended in 2000 when Courtenay divorced Benita Solomon.

Their union produced three sons. One of them (Damon) was 24 when he died from Aids-related complications. Benita joined Damon in 2007 following a myeloid leukemia diagnosis. Courtenay was married to Christine Gee, his second wife when he died.

He announced his terminal gastric cancer diagnosis before ‘Jack of Diamonds’ came out. The author told his followers on Facebook that ‘Jack of Diamonds’ would be his 21st and final novel. Because he wouldn’t live long enough to write it, the author included an epilogue that told his fans what would have happened in the sequel.

‘Jack of Diamonds’ had been out for two weeks when the author finally died (2012). Courtenay was a late bloomer. He began writing his first novel at 55. Before that, he spent more than three decades in advertising.

His achievements include developing the concept for a chocolate product containing a children’s toy (along with Geoff Pike) and working for ‘McCann Erickson, J. Walter Thompson, and George Patterson Advertising’ as creative director.

When he wrote it, Courtenay thought ‘The Power of One’ wouldn’t sell. He never expected the novel to become his most successful book, turning him into one of Australia’s biggest bestsellers.

Courtenay injected a lot of time and effort into marketing and promotion. He gave out over two thousand books a year to the people he met randomly on the street. He also asked his publisher to plant people reading his books on trains.

Where writing was concerned, his dedication was just as strong. The author wrote for twelve hours a day. His goal was to publish a book a year, an objective he consistently achieved. By the time he died, Courtenay had sold over twenty million copies of his books.

Bryce Courtenay Awards

Courtenay’s accolades include British Book and APA Who Weekly Reader’s Choice Awards.

Bryce Courtenay Books Into Movies

‘The Power of One’ became a 1992 drama film starring Stephen Dorff and Morgan Freeman.

Best Bryce Courtenay Books

The author was a prominent public speaker. At one point, the Chinese government invited him to give a lecture on a person’s ability to achieve any dream they set their sights upon. Courtenay’s best books include:

The Power of One: While Hitler harassed the world in 1939, a boy called Peekay was fighting for his survival in South Africa. Life had dealt him a difficult hand. But the humiliation and abandonment had done little to break his spirit.

Peekay was not content with simply surviving. He intended to thrive and achieve his dreams. But when Peekay embarked on his epic journey, he had no idea where life would take him once he overcame the superstitions and prejudices of his homeland.

Tandia: Tandia was scared of the white man and for a good reason. She was half Indian, half African, which made her an outcast. She was still a teenager when the police brutalized her for the first time. The experience was enough to turn her against all white men.

Peekay was the exception. Tandia knew she could trust Peekay to watch her back. But was he enough? The beautiful woman had taken a dark path.

She had joined the black resistance movement. Now she’s training to become a terrorist. Peekay and Tandia won’t make it unless they join forces to overcome a common enemy.

When Does The Next Bryce Courtenay book come out?

Bryce Courtenay doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Silver Moon and was released on October, 22nd 2014. It is the newest book in the Bryce Courtenay Non-Fiction.

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