The Persimmon Tree

By: Bryce Courtenay

Narrated by: Humphrey Bower

Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

A sweeping saga from Bryce Courtenay, Australia's most popular author.

The Persimmon Tree opens in Indonesia in 1942 on the cusp of Japanese invasion and the evacuation of Batavia (Jakarta) by the Dutch. Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Duncan is on holiday there, in pursuit of an exotic butterfly known as the Magpie Crow. It's an uncertain, dangerous time to be in Indonesia, and Nick's options of getting out are fast dwindling. Amidst the fear and chaos he falls in love with Anna, the beautiful daughter of a Dutch acquaintance, and she nicknames him 'Mr Butterfly'.

To assist in the escape, Anna's father gifts Nick his prized yacht, Vlermuis, to sail to Australia. Singapore has just fallen, the Japanese have made it to Sumatra, and the waters are dangerous. Vlermuis is not long out of Batavia when Nick is forced ashore for repairs. He witnesses the bloody execution of shipwrecked Allied soldiers by natives, and while burying what's left of the bodies, Nick notices one wounded soldier has escaped death, and he carries him back to his yacht.

The rescued soldier is a lower-class Irish Catholic American called Kevin Judge. He has no sailing experience, but he assists Nick in navigating through some dramatic storms and the two form an unlikely and lifelong friendship.

©2007 Bryce Courtenay; 2013 Christine Courtenay (P)2007 Bolinda Publishing

Wonderful story - incredible narration!

Enjoyed the story immensely. The attention to historical detail and development of characters made the story open up in your mind. Probably the best narration I've ever heard.

enchanting

loved the story and characters. i would have loved to hear about the happy ending during and after the boat trip tho. it ended much too abruptly

Outstanding!

I did not want to end! Beautifully crafted, educational and fascinating. A wonderful book. Lived the narration too!

Go ahead, order it.

You will really enjoy this beautifully crafted novel by a master. Well read by the reader.

There is a sequel, thank goodness!

Overall thoughts: a great story, great narration, and I'm looking forward to starting on the sequel. I highly recommend this audiobook.

When I reached the end of this audiobook, I was initially aggravated by the seemingly abrupt ending, until I realized there was a sequel (Fishing For Stars). That realization also cleared up my one spot of annoyance at the story, which was the constant reference of the narrator stating, "I was to learn that..____".

At first it seemed like a way to throw in details without explanations, and now I get that it literally meant "I was to learn more about this at a later time, which you will learn in a later book." Phew! Crisis averted.

Narrator Humphrey Bower is amazing as usual. I was *delighted* to finally hear a crack in his normally impeccable accents -- while he has a good "general American" accent, he is lousy at individual city accents. His Chicago and Boston accents were jarring at first, though they do somewhat improve. Other than that, his narration is wonderful.

The story is excellent, as I always expect from the late, great Bryce Courtenay. There's the usual shocking treatment of women in this story, so be prepared. While it's certainly not gratuitous, and is nowhere near as bad as how the character Tandia is treated in "Tandia", it's still jarring at times.

Looking forward to continuing the story!

Loved all the twists and turns but...

I really enjoyed the story but the ending is wanting - leaves one's mind in the lurch, essentially. Being a romantic, I'm not sure I'll read another of Courtney's books.

Rambling

A good novel is tightly woven; each detail has a purpose. This is not that kind of novel. This is a rambling history of the war in the pacific overlaid with a love story whose events seem both cliched and absurdly impossible. It's not a bad book, in fact it's absorbing at times, it's just way too long and annoyingly repetitive. If you are looking for a well written, tightly plotted novel with a satisfying conclusion, keep looking, this is not the book for you. If you don't mind strange tangents, characters without purpose, and an interesting view of the WW2 Pacific theater, it's OK.

Another Wonderful Story

Would you consider the audio edition of The Persimmon Tree to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

The character development was wonderful as usual in a Bryce Courtenay book. Sometimes when a story is told from the viewpoints of several characters, one of them might be less interesting than the others. This isn't the case with Courtenay's characters. All are fascinating people.

Which character – as performed by Humphrey Bower – was your favorite?

Anna. Humphrey Bower is such a skilled narrator that you are totally enveloped by the story and hear it told by each of its different characters.

If you could rename The Persimmon Tree, what would you call it?

I wouldn't rename it.

Any additional comments?

I knew thiis was the prequel to Fishing for Stars, so I chose to listen to it first. I'm glad I did because Fishing for Stars is a much lesser book and might not have led me to another book about the same people. The Persimmon Tree is Courtenay at his best.

Incredible performance by Bower,

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely, overall amazing performance of a very solid story, i listened to the 24 hours or so in less than 3 weeks.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tied for two Kevin Judge and Teal, he added the necessary comic tone for such a story of sorrow and survival

What about Humphrey Bower’s performance did you like?

I literally loved his ability to express cultural differences through speech, What a talented individual

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both and more than 1 or 2 times, very difficult to do

Any additional comments?

Listen to this book, dont read it, you are going to miss out on an incredible performance.

The Persimmon Tree? Quite tasty!

Would you listen to The Persimmon Tree again? Why?

I have never relistened to an audiobook other than Garrison Keillor's Pretty Good Jokes.

What did you like best about this story?

You can't go wrong with the late Bryce Courtenay. I was hooked with The Power Of One and have been a fan since.

Have you listened to any of Humphrey Bower’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Humphrey Bower rates right up there with John Lee, Gregory David Roberts, and Jim Dale.

If you could rename The Persimmon Tree, what would you call it?

The Persimmon Tree Saga

Any additional comments?

Bryce Courtenay was one of the rare transportive authors. He will be missed.