Novel
When the Lion Feeds
Wilbur Smith · 1964
Synopsis
Sean and Garrick Courtney, twins, grow up on their father's farm in Natal in the 1870s. A hunting accident leaves Garrick crippled and creates a lasting tension between them. The two brothers go to war against the Zulus, where Sean is reported missing. He reappears in the Witwatersrand gold rush, where he makes and loses fortunes with his partner Duff Charleywood against the rival Hradsky, then goes deep into the bush to hunt elephant.
Context
Published by Heinemann in 1964, the book was a worldwide success and its film rights were sold, which allowed its author to leave accountancy. South Africa banned it for obscenity and blasphemy, and the ban lasted eleven years. It opens the Courtney series, which became one of the longest in publishing. The French translation by Daniel Martin appeared from Presses de la Cité in 2001.
Who it is for
An adventure novel of more than five hundred pages in French, the first instalment of a long family series.
Prizes and reception
It was an immediate success, translated into many languages, despite the South African ban.
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