Tandia
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Bryce Courtenay |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Viking Press/Allen Lane |
| Released | May 1991 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 900 pp (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-434-14614-5 (hardback edition) |
| Preceded by | The Power of One |
| Followed by | April Fool's Day |
Tandia is Bryce Courtenay's 1992 sequel to his own best-selling novel The Power of One. It follows the story of a young woman, Tandia, who was brutally raped and then banished from her own home. Tandia later meets up with Peekay, the protagonist from The Power of One and their stories continue on together.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
This story took place in South Africa during a time when apartheid was at its worst. Courtenay weaves a story of how oppressed people worked together with those who sought justice against the inhumane dictators of the country and those who supported it. There are also storylines and themes involving boxing, which was predominant in Courtenay's earlier novel, The Power Of One.
[edit] Plot summary
Tandia, whose parents were an Indian (Mr. Patel) and his house worker (a black woman), is raped by the police officers at her father's grave the day after his funeral. With Mr. Patel's death Tandia knew things were going to be very hard for her. But after Mrs. Patel kicks her out of the dark corrugated-iron shed in the back yard, her only house, her situation has been changed more drastically than her expectations. She is arrested by the police and meets the police who brutalised her in her father's grave and becomes her life long enemy, Jannie Geldenhuis.
While Peekay and Hymie go to Britain to become law students in Oxford, they want to conquer the world boxing field, Peekay as world welterweights champion and Hymie as Peekay's manager. They also want to pursue justice for the country they love, South Africa. When they are back in South Africa, they meet Jannie Geldenhuis and he is to be their enemy in both boxing and political antagonist.
Tandia grows up to be a smart, intelligent and very beautiful lawyer -- the first woman lawyer of colour to graduate from a South African law school. She joins the law firm formed by Peekay and Hymie and is dedicated to providing counsel to the underrepresented colored population of South Africa. Her defense of an alleged black terrorist leads her again to her life long enemy Jannie Geldenhuis who is now a powerful officer in the police force.
And Tandia, who grows beautiful and intelligent, meets Peekay, who is a white man, in the country where mixed relationships are outlawed, their growing love can be very dangerous and it can lead them into the most fearful consequences.
