South Africa, 1857.
The strong and resilient Susan Parker, arrives in the inland wilderness as the plain, stocky bride of a missionary--but soon after her arrival she is victim to a violent attack by Hottentot bandits.
Seeking comfort and love in this harsh new landscape she becomes the wife of Frans Delport. Slowly, along with the birth of their daughter, they carve out a primitive homestead.
Their isolated yet happy existence is threatened when the nearby diamond strikes attract more and more foreigners. Among them: brutish, illegitimate young English sailor Jack Farson; and Russian-Jewish-born, London-bred David Kade.
Jack and David become unlikely, ever-feuding partners on a claim at the diamond diggings and suspiciously quick to befriend the Delports.
Jack obsessively hunts for diamonds at the farm, finding an epic stone by dismantling the farmhouse; this ""Southern Cross"" diamond will become the start of Jack and David's fortune--and a source of enmity for decades to come...
From diamond digs, to secret affairs, to facing the Boer War; Jack, David and the Delports' lives become entwined in a way none of them could have foreseen.
This is the exciting, complex world of the diamond trade brought to life in this panoramic story of a magnificent diamond and the two men whose lives it dominates.
Praise for The Stone Flower...
'Suspense is more or less guaranteed' - The Observer
'The characters are warm and real, the gritty, ironic drama is genuinely earned (no coincidences, no melodrama), and the place and time come alive.' - Kirkus Reviews
Alan Scholefield was born in 1931 in Cape Town, South Africa. After leaving university he became a journalist and travelled widely in southern and central Africa, Europe, and America. He now lives in Hampshire with his wife and has three daughters. Most famous for his Macrae and Silver series, Scholefield has also written other novels, including Venom, which was made into a film in 1981.
Genre: Historical
The strong and resilient Susan Parker, arrives in the inland wilderness as the plain, stocky bride of a missionary--but soon after her arrival she is victim to a violent attack by Hottentot bandits.
Seeking comfort and love in this harsh new landscape she becomes the wife of Frans Delport. Slowly, along with the birth of their daughter, they carve out a primitive homestead.
Their isolated yet happy existence is threatened when the nearby diamond strikes attract more and more foreigners. Among them: brutish, illegitimate young English sailor Jack Farson; and Russian-Jewish-born, London-bred David Kade.
Jack and David become unlikely, ever-feuding partners on a claim at the diamond diggings and suspiciously quick to befriend the Delports.
Jack obsessively hunts for diamonds at the farm, finding an epic stone by dismantling the farmhouse; this ""Southern Cross"" diamond will become the start of Jack and David's fortune--and a source of enmity for decades to come...
From diamond digs, to secret affairs, to facing the Boer War; Jack, David and the Delports' lives become entwined in a way none of them could have foreseen.
This is the exciting, complex world of the diamond trade brought to life in this panoramic story of a magnificent diamond and the two men whose lives it dominates.
Praise for The Stone Flower...
'Suspense is more or less guaranteed' - The Observer
'The characters are warm and real, the gritty, ironic drama is genuinely earned (no coincidences, no melodrama), and the place and time come alive.' - Kirkus Reviews
Alan Scholefield was born in 1931 in Cape Town, South Africa. After leaving university he became a journalist and travelled widely in southern and central Africa, Europe, and America. He now lives in Hampshire with his wife and has three daughters. Most famous for his Macrae and Silver series, Scholefield has also written other novels, including Venom, which was made into a film in 1981.
Genre: Historical
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