177:, Sean and Duff agree to pool their resources to make their fortunes in the subsequent gold rush. Buying land off of Candy Rautenbach, a hotel owner who Duff becomes engaged to, the pair soon establish a profitable gold mine for themselves and become millionaires. Before long the pair are two of the wealthiest individuals on the Witwatersrand, second only to Jewish diamond tycoon Norman Hradsky and his business partner Max, the former of whom Duff pursues a personal rivalry with owing to Hradsky's similarities to his overbearing father.
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pursuit with the help of
Mbejane, a Zulu who turned against his people after his father was murdered by supporters of Cetewayo. Anna tries to return to Sean, but he refuses her due to her marriage to Garrick, even after learning that she bears his child. A bitter Anna fakes being raped by Sean, turning Garrick against his brother, though Sean assumes that she told Garrick the truth of her pregnancy.
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leave to appeal which they did to the
Appellate Division in Bloemfontein, where it was reversed on appeal by a majority of three of the five-judges bench on 26 August 1965, and the ban stayed. Once again Smith's writing received a lashing with the chief justice being of the opinion that it was not "a publication for any select circle of mature literary connoisseurs" and further claimed that,
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After 10,000 copies had already been sold in South Africa the novel was banned by the
Publication Control Board on the grounds of obscenity and blasphemy. As his publisher Heinemann appealed the decision to the Cape Division of the South African Supreme Court. Smith however funded the legal action as
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Making due allowances for the trends of our time, there are passages which I consider calculated to incite lustful thoughts and to stimulate sexual desire in at least a substantial number of persons: ordinary men and women, of normal mind and reactions, including some of the younger generation, who
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The case had to be heard twice as the original two-judge bench couldn't agree. The subsequent three-judge bench overturned the
Publication Control Board's decision by two to one, though the chief judge commented on the book's "poor literary quality". However, the Publication Control Board was given
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The book went on to be successful, selling around the world (except in South Africa, where it was banned). The novel was serialized by the BBC and the Reader's Digest produced a condensed version. Its success enabled Smith to leave his job and become a full-time author. Charles Pick, who bought the
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and convinced him to look at the novel. She also asked for an advance of £500 and a guaranteed initial print run of 5,000 copies, and that it was to be published before
Christmas. After being impressed after reading the first chapter of the novel over the weekend Pick gave it to the company's sales
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to hunt for ivory. During this time, Duff is bitten by a rabid jackal and contracts rabies, eventually forcing Sean to euthanize him. After grieving for his friend, he encounters the
Lerouxes, an Afrikaner family also hunting in the Bushveld, and falls in love with their youngest daughter, Katrina.
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I wrote about my own father and my darling mother. I wove into the story chunks of early
African history. I wrote about black people and white. I wrote about hunting and gold mining and carousing and women. I wrote about love and loving and hating. In short I wrote about all the things I knew well
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Shortly afterwards, Katrina contracts black water fever, and Sean travels back to
Johannesburg to enable her to recover. While there however, Katrina mistakenly assumes that Sean misses his old life there, and wrongfully suspects Candy to be a mistress of Sean's after seeing them interact with one
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in the 1870s, with the introduction of twin brothers Sean and
Garrick, the sons of ranch owner Waite Courtney. After one of Sean's hunting accidents results in Garrick losing his leg, a guilt-ridden Sean becomes Garrick's protector, with Garrick later manipulating Sean's guilt for his own benefit.
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Dejected he returned to work as an accountant, until he received a telegram from Ursula
Williams, his agent in London enquiring as to progress on his new novel. Encouraged by her expectation that he would be writing another novel the urge to write once again overwhelmed him. After thinking about
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Upon learning that Sean's girlfriend Anna is pregnant, Garrick marries her to prevent her giving birth out of wedlock. The two fail to consummate their marriage due to Garrick proving to be impotent, and when they return, Sean is revealed to have survived after escaping the ambush and subsequent
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alongside the other mine owners, and eventually merging their companies into a single enterprise, Central Rand Consolidated. During this time Sean gradually loses his moral compass, helping to drive another entrepreneur to financial ruin and suicide, and later forcing Mbejane to wear a livery.
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tendency to deprave or corrupt the minds of persons who are likely to be exposed to the effect or influence thereof. It is offensive and harmful to public morals. It is likely to be outrageous or disgusting to persons who are likely to read it. It dealt in an improper manner with promiscuity,
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He returns to normal after being trapped in a cave-in and saved by his workers, during which time he resolves never to hurt another if he can help it. Duff deserts Candy the morning before their wedding, fearing it will just be a repeat of his miserable first marriage, and returns to the
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magazine argued the characters of Sean and Garrick "represented the two sides of Wilbur Smith – who he wanted to be (Sean) and who he feared he was (Garrick) – because you see the dynamic played over in his novels again and again: the strong brother and the weak brother."
166:. Waite is killed in battle, and Sean is later presumed dead after getting caught in an ambush. Garrick meanwhile becomes a war hero after inadvertently preventing the Zulus from forcing their way into a makeshift hospital ward, earning the Victoria Cross for his efforts.
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another. Considering herself a failure as a wife, she commits suicide. Though affected by his grief, Sean resolves to keep living for Dirk's sake, and he heads back into the Bushveld to collect enough ivory to pay for a farm, as he and Katrina had talked about doing.
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director Tim Manderson, who agreed that it should be published. Pick rang Winant and offered an advance of £1,000, with an initial print run of 10,000 copies. By the publication date Heinemanns had increased the print run to 20,000.
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Witwatersrand a few months later. Shortly afterwards, Sean and Duff are tricked out of their CRC shares and fortunes by Hradsky (albeit by using their own greed against them), and Sean decides to leave Johannesburg.
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and loved better. I left out all the immature philosophies and radical politics and rebellious posturing that had been the backbone of the first novel. I even came up with a catching title, 'When the Lion Feeds'.
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Smith dedicated the book to his father, whom the author idolized. "When I showed him he was a bit taken aback but Mum said that he always used to carry it around with him to show his mates", said Smith.
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Sean and Garrick are both expelled from school after Sean assaults a teacher who attacked Garrick in order to antagonize Sean, after which Waite hires the two to work for him.
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he didn't want to burden them with the cost. Before the court the Publication Control Board claimed that the reason it had banned the novel was because it had the,
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Sean and Mbejane travel north, where they meet Duff Charleywood, an assistant mining engineer. After learning of the discovery of gold on the
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Smith did not originally envision the Courtney family would become a series, but he ended up continually returning to them in later novels.
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After reading the 160,000 word manuscript Smith's agent in London, Ursula Winant, rang Charles Pick the deputy managing director of
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Despite this antagonism, Sean, Duff and Hradsky work together for mutual profit, setting up a stock exchange in
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passionate love scenes, sexual intercourse, obscene language, blasphemous language, sadism and cruelty.
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146:. In 2012, Smith said the novel remained his favourite because it was his first to be published.
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The character of Waite Courtney was modelled on Smith's grandfather Courtney James Smith.
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The novel was finally unbanned in South Africa 11 years after its publication.
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The pair of them later marry and have a child, who they name Dirk Courtney.
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bought the film rights and announced plans to make a movie version after
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422:(Hardback). London: Zaffre. pp. 24, 29, 57, 101–109, 111, 316–318.
215:, Smith was working as an accountant and had already written a novel,
355:. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 13 June 1964. p. 22
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possible storylines he commenced work in 1962 on another novel:
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498:"Wilbur Smith: 'I think every book I write will be my last'"
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book for Heinemann, later became Smith's mentor and agent.
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Uys, Stanley (29 August 1965). "Publisher loses appeal".
219:, for which he had been unable to find a publisher.
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321:"Wilbur Smith: My Favourite Work is My First Book"
162:Sean, Garrick and Waite all participate in the
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142:, whose adventures Smith would tell in many
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526:. London (UK). 16 January 1965. p. 9.
267:will be the probable readers of this book.
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192:Sean, Duff and Mbejane travel into the
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420:On Leopard Rock: A Life of Adventures
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522:"Belgian oil strike may end today".
496:Carpenter, Julie (13 April 2009).
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1190:20th-century South African novels
601:Vagg, Stephen (27 January 2022).
574:Hopper, Hedda (30 August 1965).
1215:Novels set in the 19th century
291:(1963), but no film resulted.
1:
792:The Leopard Hunts in Darkness
553:"Interview with Wilbur Smith"
603:"The Cinema of Wilbur Smith"
1200:Heinemann (publisher) books
576:"Africa is Poiter's Choice"
1236:
16:1964 novel by Wilbur Smith
541:. London (UK). p. 3.
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217:The Gods First Make Mad
896:The Triumph of the Sun
418:Smith, Wilbur (2018).
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1210:Novels set in Africa
1143:Mountain of Diamonds
1127:The Kingfisher Caper
728:The Eye of the Tiger
680:The Sound of Thunder
580:The News and Courier
154:The novel begins in
112:The Sound of Thunder
22:When the Lion Feeds
1167:The Diamond Hunters
704:The Diamond Hunters
672:The Dark of the Sun
664:When the Lion Feeds
347:"A Bushveld "Lion""
278:Proposed adaptation
140:the Courtney family
123:When the Lion Feeds
61:The Courtney Novels
23:
1205:Novels about lions
1170:(2001 mini-series)
1162:(1999 mini-series)
1159:The Seventh Scroll
1135:Shout at the Devil
856:The Seventh Scroll
808:Power of the Sword
688:Shout at the Devil
476:Wilbur Smith Books
451:Wilbur Smith Books
379:Wilbur Smith Books
363:– via Trove.
352:The Canberra Times
295:Critical reception
211:Before publishing
1220:1964 debut novels
1177:
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1043:Call of the Raven
800:The Burning Shore
752:Hungry as the Sea
429:978-1-78576-534-6
375:"University Daya"
327:. 31 January 2012
234:William Heinemann
144:subsequent novels
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87:Publication place
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998:The Tiger's Prey
720:Eagle in the Sky
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744:A Sparrow Falls
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584:. Retrieved
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557:. Retrieved
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539:The Observer
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524:The Guardian
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505:. Retrieved
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479:. Retrieved
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136:Wilbur Smith
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90:South Africa
43:Wilbur Smith
18:
1195:1964 novels
1095:Adaptations
1049:Thunderbolt
982:Golden Lion
712:The Sunbird
582:. p. 3
472:"Busy Days"
447:"Good Days"
128:debut novel
1184:Categories
1073:Storm Tide
1037:Cloudburst
1030:Ghost Fire
936:Desert God
832:Golden Fox
776:Men of Men
359:15 January
307:References
207:Background
1085:Prey Zone
1067:Shockwave
904:The Quest
848:River God
696:Gold Mine
647:Works by
132:Rhodesian
71:Heinemann
67:Publisher
990:Predator
736:Cry Wolf
559:21 March
507:22 March
481:14 March
456:14 March
384:14 March
331:22 March
195:Bushveld
49:Language
1006:War Cry
944:Pharaoh
912:Assegai
880:Warlock
872:Monsoon
607:Filmink
502:Express
300:Filmink
134:writer
52:English
1138:(1976)
1130:(1975)
1122:(1974)
1114:(1972)
1106:(1968)
1087:(2022)
1081:(2022)
1075:(2022)
1069:(2022)
1063:(2021)
1057:(2021)
1051:(2021)
1045:(2020)
1039:(2020)
1033:(2019)
1025:(2019)
1017:(2018)
1009:(2017)
1001:(2017)
993:(2016)
985:(2015)
966:(2018)
955:Memoir
947:(2016)
939:(2014)
931:(2013)
923:(2011)
915:(2009)
907:(2007)
899:(2005)
891:(2003)
883:(2001)
875:(1999)
867:(1997)
859:(1995)
851:(1993)
843:(1991)
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731:(1975)
723:(1974)
715:(1972)
707:(1971)
699:(1970)
691:(1968)
683:(1966)
675:(1965)
667:(1964)
656:Novels
586:24 May
555:. 1989
426:
114:
57:Series
39:Author
156:Natal
1119:Gold
816:Rage
588:2012
561:2013
509:2013
483:2013
458:2013
424:ISBN
386:2013
361:2020
333:2013
288:Zulu
150:Plot
96:ISBN
82:1964
130:of
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
