Beschreibung
Crazed with fear, a boy sprints through the African bush. He is pursued by the men who have butchered his parents. It is the beginning of his passage into manhood, which will see him experience the violent siege of Ladysmith, black-marketers and attempts on his life. Living on his wits, he is befriended by a British cavalry officer, Major George Stanley, whose life he saves and who will betray him.
From the slaughter of the South African Boer war of 1899-1902, to the snobbery of Edwardian England, where a decades-old secret leads to tragedy, Jan Willem develops from a naïve orphan into a resolute young man under the tutelage of Major Stanley and De Costa the wily but educated poacher and former priest.
Faced with the scheming of Major Stanley’s adopted sons, Russell and Edward, and the cruelty of their mother, Jan Willem is expelled from an exclusive school, for striking a school master, but finds sanctuary, with De Costa, in the forests of the Major’s estate.
Building a home, for his wife and child, Jan Willem begins to escape the demons of his youth. But the shared and mysterious past of De Costa and Major Stanley, and the determination of the major’s sons to be rid of him, result in kidnap, murder and tragedy.
From the slaughter of the South African Boer war of 1899-1902, to the snobbery of Edwardian England, where a decades-old secret leads to tragedy, Jan Willem develops from a naïve orphan into a resolute young man under the tutelage of Major Stanley and De Costa the wily but educated poacher and former priest.
Faced with the scheming of Major Stanley’s adopted sons, Russell and Edward, and the cruelty of their mother, Jan Willem is expelled from an exclusive school, for striking a school master, but finds sanctuary, with De Costa, in the forests of the Major’s estate.
Building a home, for his wife and child, Jan Willem begins to escape the demons of his youth. But the shared and mysterious past of De Costa and Major Stanley, and the determination of the major’s sons to be rid of him, result in kidnap, murder and tragedy.