The power of one.

The power of one – Bryce Courtney

I will be adding this book to the 100 books list as I feel it deserves a  place there.

The story is about a young, white, English boy living in south Africa in the 1940s and ’50s. He is nursed for the first few years of his life by his black nanny. When he is 5 his mother suffers a mental breakdown so he is forced to go to an Afrikaans boarding school. He is taught many hard life lessons here. His Grandfather’s chickens all die from a disease, so his family is forced to move to a town.

When he leaves boarding school to go to the town, he meets up with a man on the train who instills in him the love for boxing. It is then he decides he will be come the Welterweight boxing champion of the world.

The book then follows him on his journey to achieve this goal. From boxing at a prison to how he gets a scholarship to a Private white school in Sandton.

I thought this book was amazing. It made me laugh and cry, and left me with a such an awesome feeling of hope.

I would like to read his other books, but I have heard they are not as good as this one. So that will be done after my 100 books.

Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffeneger

Twins girls from America move into an apartment in London, next to Highgate Cemetery in London. They inherit this apartment from their aunt, their mother’s twin sister whom they have never met. Their aunt and mother have not spoken in 21 years and no one knows why.

The girls discover that their aunt is a ghost in the apartment. The Aunt has found a way of communicating with the girls and her partner that she left behind.

They start a journey of self discovery – who they are without each other.

That is the book in a nutshell. I thought it was fantastic. Loved the twists and how she manages to describe the ghost as a ball of energy and how it changes and takes shape.

This is one of those books I can see myself rereading in a few years time!