Book Review :: Whitethorn, by Bryce Courtenay

Whitethorn by Bryce Courtenay
ISBN: 0143004840
on August 2nd 2007
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 692
Format: Audio
Goodreads

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 frantically 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.

Last updated on 6 April 2022

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What is Whitethorn by Bryce Courtenay about?

Whitethorn follows Tom as he grows up in The Boys’ Farm, then onto high school after receiving a scholarship, and through University into his career. Against all odds and all reasons, Tom goes from a nothing boy, hated by the boys in the orphanage, to an incredibly smart, decent young man, who only wants justice for his friend, Mattress, who was murdered at Tom’s time in the orphanage.

‘Books are like that you know. When you haven’t got a friend, they can be your best friend. And one thing is sure, they never let you down or leave you in the lurch’

My thoughts on Whitethorn

I have to begin this review by saying I’m probably not the best person to tell you about this book. It’s not a genre I usually enjoy, but my friend and I have given each other a list of books to read, and this was part of the one for me. However, this story is wonderfully written and the characters are very well rounded, and definitely, all have their own voice.

I’ve come to realise, in reading this book, what I don’t like about this genre. It’s the same reason I don’t read biographies – I don’t want to read about every single detail in a person’s life from when they were really young till later in life. I would rather jump into the story partway through their life, and watch them overcome challenges and problems, and never know everything about them in previous lives, only what I can see from their character now.

But like I said, the writing is wonderful, and Courtenay’s storytelling is brilliant. It was amazing to read the beginning, with the obvious voice of a young boy, to the end, the language and the parts of the story were definitely that of an older boy, a man, someone who had been through life.

The beginning was stressful, with young boys being young boys, with racism, with horrific situations and events going on. The middle was the most interesting for me, as Tom branches out on his own and gets away from the Boy’s Farm, but I got bored nearer the end … and depressed. It’s a depressing story, guys, but it is a good story. I know that sounds weird, but if you’ve read it, you’ll understand.

‘I was discovering in life that women always need details that are not important and side track a person. Before you know where you are, you’re telling them stuff you don’t even want to tell yourself.’

So while I won’t be reading it again…ever…nor am I keen to read any of Bryce Courtenay’s other books (though I’ve heard they’re wonderful…but not my kind of wonderful), it was a good read, and I can see why people love it so much.

Can I just mention, if you’re after an audiobook (I actually ‘read’ this in audiobook format because there was only 1 copy of this book in the Auckland library system and it was out), Howard Bower is an amazing narrator. His voice is brilliant to listen to, and every character has a different voice even the women. He creates the story with his reading brilliantly.

Have you read Whitethorn? Or other Courtenay books?