Bryce Courtenay’s Final Novel Released
After a long delay, Bryce Courtenay‘s final book has been released.
“It’s been a privilege to write for you and to have you accept me as a storyteller in your lives,” he wrote. “Now, as my story draws to an end, may I say only, ‘Thank you. You have been simply wonderful’.”
Bryce has taken two years to write Jack of Diamonds, due to his battle with stomach cancer, which he recently found out was incurable.
Thousands of readers, including 56,000 Facebook followers, have expressed their gratitude for Courtenay, including Taylor Swift and Mimi McPherson.
His long-time publisher, Bob Sessions, has stated that no other author has even come close to Courtenay’s book sales.
“It’s extraordinary how his readers respond to his story telling skills and how they wait for his next book and rush out to grab it,” Sessions said.
“For many, many years, we all in Australian publishing knew that 100,000 copies was a huge best seller and some big names from overseas like Wilbur Smith would sell that many at Christmas time. Bryce sold 200,000. He is a phenomenon. There’s no other word to use. He outsells any other writer by an enormous margin and has done ever since The Power of One.”
For more on Bryce Courtenay and his farewell, please read the rest of the article in the Herald Sun.