Bryce Courtenay
Bryce Courtenay was an influential Australian author and former advertising executive, best known for his novel "The Power of One," which addresses the injustices of apartheid. Born to a lawyer and a dressmaker, Courtenay initially faced familial pressure to pursue a legal career. However, his strong opposition to apartheid policies led him to leave South Africa and study English in London. After moving to Australia, he found success in the advertising industry but felt he had compromised his ideals. Following a personal health crisis, he shifted his focus to writing and achieved notable acclaim with his debut novel, which became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection and was later adapted into a film. Courtenay authored numerous works across various genres, although many were classified as popular fiction rather than literary works. In September 2012, he revealed a terminal cancer diagnosis and published his final novel, "Jack of Diamonds," shortly before his passing at the age of 79. His writing remains significant in Australian literature, reflecting themes of identity and justice.
Subject Terms
Bryce Courtenay
South African-born Australian novelist and nonfiction writer.
- Born: August 14, 1933
- Birthplace: Johannesburg, South Africa
- Died: November 22, 2012
- Place of death:Canberra, Australia
Biography
Bryce Courtenay was the son of Arthur and Maude Roberts Courtenay. Courtenay’s father was a lawyer, and his mother was a dressmaker. His parents assumed that Courtenay would study law and dutifully follow in his father’s footsteps. The young man, however, had been so appalled by the apartheid policies to which he was exposed at an early age that he told his family that if pursued a career in law he would devote his efforts to defending blacks. His family was dismayed and withdrew its financial support from him.
To support himself, the young man did physical labor in South Africa’s copper mines and became a boxer. Finally, he saved enough money to go to England, where he studied English at King’s College in London. Upon the completion of his studies, he traveled in Norway before immigrating to Australia. Penniless, he used skills gained in a television course he had taken at King’s College to get a position writing advertising copy. His aptitude for this sort of work assured his success in the advertising community. He became a regional chair of his company and a member of the board of directors of the McCann-Erickson agency before taking an executive position with the J. Walter Thompson Agency in Sydney.
Throughout his meteoric rise, Courtenay felt that he had sold out and that he had compromised his ideals. As he approached fifty, he was virtually disabled by a severe back condition that was quickly destroying him. He had an entrenched habit of smoking five packs of cigarettes and consuming at least two twelve-packs of beer every day. Grossly overweight and on the verge of serious illness, one day Courtenay quit his job, gave up smoking and drinking, and arranged for surgery to fuse his spine. After his surgery, he spent three months immobilized in a body cast. As he lay in bed recovering, he thought about his life and began to plot out the structures of many books he hoped to write.
With his most serious problems behind him, Courtenay now faced hobbling indebtedness brought about by his illness and his lack of income. Determined to free himself from a debt of over half a million dollars, he founded his own advertising business, which quickly brought in the money necessary to make him independent. After he emerged from debt, he devoted himself largely to his writing. When his first novel, The Power of One, became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, his future was assured. This book dealt with the injustices of apartheid that had so greatly upset him as a youth. It was adapted into a successful film in 1992, and in 2015 the book was voted best novel by Australian readers, according to the Better Reading organization. Courtenay went on to write extensively in other fields—fiction, biography, essays, and a documentary film that won a Gold Award in the New York Film Festival in 1990.
While Courtenay never reproduced he international success of The Power of One, he was consistently one of the most popular novelists in Australia. Most were set in Australia or South Africa. His later works were generally seen as mass-market fiction and not as high literature, filled with plot-driven action and colorful characters. He allegedly began a new novel in the beginning of each year, finishing in the summer to allow publication by Christmas, often accompanied by major advertising campaigns.
In September 2012 Courtenay announced to his fans over social media that he had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, and that his upcoming book would be his last. That novel, Jack of Diamonds, was published in November 2012, just weeks before Courtenay died on November 23. He was seventy-nine years old. The final novel included an epilogue, written after his diagnosis, in which he explained to fans how he meant to continue the lead character's story.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
The Power of One, 1989
Tandia, 1991
The Potato Factory, 1996
The Family Frying Pan, 1997
Tommo and Hawk, 1998
Jessica, 1998
The Night Country, 1998
Solomon's Song, 1999
Four Fires, 2001
Smoky Joe's Café, 2001
The Family Frying Pan, 2002
Matthew Flinders' Cat, 2002
Brother Fish, 2004
Whitethorn, 2005
Sylvia, 2006
The Persimmon Tree, 2007
Fishing for Stars, 2008
The Story of Danny Dunn, 2009
Fortune Cookie, 2010
Jack of Diamonds, 2012
Nonfiction:
April Fool's Day, 1994
A Recipe for Dreaming, 1998
The Silver Moon, 2014
Bibliography
Ayliffe, Tim. "Bryce Courtenay: Australia's Master Storyteller." ABC News, 23 Nov. 2012, www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-23/bryce-courtenay/4388240. Accessed 20 June 2017. An obituary for Courtenay is presented.
French, Jackie. "A Writer's Plot." Australian House & Garden, July 2010, p. 117. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=51991456&site=eds-live. Presents a profile of Courtenay, focusing on his thoughts on and experience with horticulture, a hobby of his, as well as discussing his background and best-selling works.
Steger, Jason, and Steve Dow. "Bryce Courtenay Writes His Final Chapter." The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Nov. 2012, www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/bryce-courtenay-writes-his-final-chapter-20121123-29xes.html. Accessed 20 June 2017. Reflects on the end of Courtenay's life and his legacy as one of Australia's most popular authors.
Teisch, Jessica. "Bryce Courtenay." Bookmarks, no. 71, July/Aug. 2014, p. 24. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=96852714&site=eds-live. Examines the life and works of Courtenay, focusing on his self-made status as a successful author and marketer.
Weber, Bruce. "Bryce Courtenay, Popular Australian Novelist, Dies at 79." The New York Times, 23 Nov. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/books/bryce-courtenay-australian-novelist-dies-at-79.html. Accessed 20 Jun. 2017. This obituary gives an overview of Courtenay's life and career.