Cirrus@Austlit

'Each of us has a place to return to in our minds, a place of clarity and peace, a place to think, to create, to dream. For Bryce Courtenay this place was a waterhole in Africa where he used to escape to as a boy, in search of solitude. One evening, while lingering there, he witnessed the tallest of the great beasts drinking from the waterhole in the moonlight, and was spellbound. Ever since, he drew inspiration from this moment.

'The Silver Moon gathers together some of the most personal and sustaining life-lessons from Australia's favourite storyteller. In short stories and insights, many written in his final months, Bryce reflects on living and dying, and how through determination, respect for others and taking pleasure in small moments of joy, he lived life to the fullest.

'From practical advice on how to write a bestseller to general inspiration on how to realise your dreams, The Silver Moon celebrates Bryce Courtenay's lifelong passion for storytelling, language and the creative process, and brings us closer to the man behind the bestsellers.'

'Bryce Courtenay Australia’s best-selling author ran 'The Last Class' writing workshop just months before he passed away. This unforgettable documentary is a profound and deeply moving experience. It will inspire you to reach out and discover your own 'Power Of One'. 'The Last Class' records Bryce's original insights into how he wrote 21 bestsellers in 23 years. For writers, this film will give you the confidence and motivation to start writing your own bestselling novel, family memoir, or work of nonfiction. You may also discover how to inject more energy into your business presentations. ' (Production abstract)

'Born and raised in a poor, working-class family in Toronto, Jack Spayd is the son of an unhappy marriage. But when he is given a harmonica as a young boy, he discovers a talent for music that will change his life forever. After being taken under the wing of "Miss Frostbite", the owner of a local jazz club, Jack becomes a gifted musician, playing piano and harmonica.

'After the death of his mother, he travels to Las Vegas and finds work in the clubs there, but is increasingly drawn to gambling. He earns a reputation as a good player, which brings him to the attention of the mafia. Jack wants to join the professional circuit, and to do that he needs serious money behind him. It's this need that sees him travel to the Belgian Congo, where he's heard it's possible to earn big money working in the most dangerous parts of the local copper mines.

'He gradually falls in love with Africa - and then with a beautiful Ethiopian woman. They move to London, where they bring up a daughter who becomes a supermodel. In a dramatic twist, the story returns to Africa - and to a fortune in diamonds.

'Jack of Diamonds is the story of a young, talented man, fighting to achieve his ambitions, and having to use his considerable talents to find his way in a perilous world.' (From the Angus and Robertson Bookstore website.)

'In the aftermath of the Great Depression few opportunities existed for working-class boys, but at just eighteen Danny Dunn has a good deal going for him: brains, looks, sporting ability - and an easy charm. His parents run The Hero, a favourite neighbourhood pub, and Danny is a local hero.

'Luck changes for Danny when he signs up to go to war. He returns home a physically broken man, to a life that will be changed for ever. Together with Helen, a woman of strength, character and intelligence who becomes his wife, he sets about rebuilding his life. It is a life tormented by personal demons, and shaped by compassion, corruption, love and power - and the gift of twin daughters, Sam and Gabby.

'Set against a backdrop of Australian pubs and politics, The Story of Danny Dunn is an Australian family saga spanning three generations. It is a compelling tale of love, ambition and the destructive power of obsession, at a time of great change in Australia's history.' (From the publisher's website.)

'What would you like for Christmas, if there were no strings attached? We asked some famous Australians - and a couple of New Zealanders - what they would most like to see in their stocking.'

Those questioned are: Mike Hussey, Jennifer Hawkins, Tim Finn, Germaine Greer, Bryce Courtenay, Libby Trickett and Rhys Darby.

'Nick Duncan is a semi-retired, wealthy shipping magnate who lives in idyllic Beautiful Bay, Vanuatu, where he is known as the old patriarch of the islands. He is grieving the loss of his Eurasian true love, Anna, and is suffering for the first time from disturbing flashbacks to the Second World War.

'So he puts pen to paper and tells the compelling tale of the life he has lived since his war-hero days - a life of adventure, ambition, and fortunes made and lost. A life that has had at its heart the love of two passionate and unforgettable - but very different - women.

'The seductive Anna Til and the beguiling Marg Hamilton have spent a lifetime in contest for Nick's devotion. Nick remains torn between them, and struggles between their two opposing worlds of economic exploitation and environmental crusade - until he is called upon to referee ...

'Moving between the exotic Pacific Islands, Japan and Australia, over several decades, Fishing for Stars is an epic drama of adventure, ambition and unconventional love, and the stunning sequel to Bryce Courtenay's best-selling The Persimmon Tree.' (From the publisher's website.)

'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.' (Publication summary)