The Lion Seeker - Kenneth Bonert

"A taut, visceral account of a young Jewish boy's African life . . .
offering at times page-turning thrills and at others a painful
meditation on destiny and volition."
NPR, All Things ConsideredA
powerful family saga, The Lion Seeker is a thrilling ride through the
life of Isaac Helger, from redheaded hooligan on the streets of
Johannesburg to striving young man on the make. Growing up in the shadow
of World War II, Isaac is caught between his mother's urgent ambition
to bring her sisters to safety out of the old world and his own desire
for the freedoms of the new. But soon his mother's carefully guarded
secret takes them to the diamond mines, where mysteries are unveiled in
the desert rocks and Isaac begins to learn the bittersweet reality of
success bought at truly any cost."[A] master storyteller . . .
Bonert's zest for description, his attention to social nuances, and his
eagerness to tell a large story in a large way . . . [creates] a big,
richly detailed novel."
Tablet Magazine"Raw and ambitious."
Moment "Astonishingly
mature, admirably incautious . . . It's visually and thematically
sweeping, rich with diverse personalities, packed with tender waves and
roiling crests of love, loss, hope, hatred."
National Post (Canada)"Stunning."
Jewish Daily Forward"Powerful
and thoroughly engrossing . . . To read it is to be reminded how great a
great novel can be."
David Bezmozgis, author of The Free World.