Brenda didn’t see the beautiful boy who caused a young woman’s knees to tremble. She didn’t care about the brilliant young sportsman. All Brenda saw was her boy standing in cap and gown in the Great Hall of Sydney University holding a parchment scroll, proving her mum and dad hadn’t left Ireland for nothing and that her family could hold their heads up high. Danny would reach down and pull them all up out of the gutter.
Danny Dunn is the apple of his mother’s eye, and her hope for the future. Danny will do the things that she didn’t do – particularly getting a university degree. For the people of Balmain, Danny offers hope of a different kind – as a sporting hero on the rugby field and in the water polo pool. But when the second World War erupts, Danny is determined to represent his country – whether his mother wants him to or not.
The Story of Danny Dunn is the tale of one man’s war and of his life afterwards, as he tries to fulfil his own dreams, and his mother’s. Danny is a strong man determined to make a difference, but he also lives with the scars of life as a prisoner of war. His family, too, including his parents, his wife and his twin daughters, must also live with his difficult past and with the highs and lows of his determination.
From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay, The Story of Danny Dunn is a saga which offers both an insight into life in the period following World War II and an absorbing story.
The Story of Danny Dunn, by Bryce Courtenay
Penguin, 2009
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