Evelyn Palmer

BRYCE COURTNEY STORYTELLER : HIS WIFE PAYS HOMAGE

Christine and Bryc e Courtney. Photo Tim Bauer

BRYCE COURTNEY STORYTELLER is a memoir of one of Australia’s most beloved novelists, written by his loving wife Christine Courtney.

Christine wrote this as a tribute to an extraordinary man. The biography covers his life story from his extremely difficult life in South Africa, moving to England and ultimately to Australia. From birth to school days, to being a miner, studying at Oxford, coming to Sydney with his first wife and working so successfully in advertising to finally fulfilling his lifetime dream of becoming a writer of novels.

His first powerful ‘semi autobiographical ’ one was  ‘The Power of One’. It was hugely successful, as were all the other books that followed. Bryce wrote a novel a year – starting in February and completing each one (bar his last, when he was gravely ill) by August, so the publishers could have them out for each year’s Christmas trade. All were best sellers because Bryce Courtney had the extraordinary gift of writing wonderful and engaging stories, carrying  the reader with him through the journey of each novel.

Bryce Courtney’s millions of loyal followers will love this biography. The voyeurism of finding out all about their beloved author will make this book a ‘must’ summer holiday read. 

The book covers every aspect of his 79 years and it is a life extremely well lived. Bryce packed in more than most people could achieve in many lives. 

The book is long – 420 pages. The first half covers his first 50 years. Christine sought the help of his loving family and friends to cover the period in scrupulous detail as she did not know Bryce at that time. The depth and names become overwhelming but paint an amazing picture of a larger than life character who endured so much hardship and rose above it to become the novelist of such renown. Quotes from the various novels are used to show the relationship Bryce and others had to the novels he wrote. A few could have been omitted, messages become a little laboured as the point is understood. The reader easily sees that Bryce was a hugely interesting person.

The second half of the memoir covers his final 19 years, when Christine Courtney (nee Gee) came into Bryce’s life. This section is almost 200 pages, and rather long. Although fascinating and lovingly written, it is for my mind written in too much detail. Every person of any significance in Bryce and Christine’s life is named and stories are told about them. Clearly Christine was actually there, so she could write from first hand experience, however while moving Bryce’s story forward, she wants to thank a great many people. Perhaps some could have been left to the acknowledgements at the back. The biography loses some of its momentum when the minutiae is painstakingly written about. It begins to sound more like a diary of events than a memoir.

Despite this slight criticism, the book is a most engaging read for lovers  of Bryce Courtney’s work and will certainly be a best seller for the Christmas trade.

Featured image : Christine and Bryce Courtney. Photo Tim Bauer

Published by Evelyn Palmer

Evelyn's passion for all the arts began when her parents took her to a wonderful performance of the Opera 'Carmen' at J C Williamson Theatre in Newtown circa 1965. The music, singing, costumes and sets were mesmerising. This led to her subscribing annually to the youth series of Opera, evening camping out in William St Kings Cross to get the 'best' seats. She enjoys classical music and subscribes to the ABC orchestral concerts. Being a sentimentalist, she even took over the seats her late parents held since 1973, when the Opera House opened. She also loves the theatre, having variously subscribed to the STC and Belvoir (called the Nimrod Theatre back then) since her university days. For the past 30 years she has had a subscription to the Ensemble Theatre, organising group bookings for about 40 similarly passionate theatre goers. Apart from enjoying and attending all types of live performances, be it drama or stage musicals, getting immersed into the movies is another delightful pastime. She volunteers annually at the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) and watches all genres, except fantasy. She recalls spending entire weekends at the SFF when it was held at the Wintergarten Cinema in Rose Bay (until its closure in 1987). Having almost retired from teaching, she now has more time to revel in all of the above pursuits.