The Burning Shore

The Burning Shore

File:TheBurningShore.jpg First edition
Author	Wilbur Smith
Country	France/South-West Africa/South Africa
Language	English
Series	The Courtney Novels
Publisher	Heinemann
Publication date	1985
Preceded by	A Sparrow Falls
Followed by	Power of the Sword

The Burning Shore is a novel by Wilbur Smith set during and after World War One.

Smith called the book his "Road to Damascus" moment because it was the first time he used a female as a major character.

Plot

In 1917 during World War One, South African fighter pilot Michael Courtney falls in love with Centaine, a French woman. On their wedding day – prior to their wedding – Courtney is killed in action, and, following the destruction of her home by a German bombardment, the pregnant Centaine enrols as a nurse and embarks on a hospital ship for South Africa. The ship is torpedoed by a German U-Boat and Centaine lands on the Skeleton Coast. She attempts to make her way south to South Africa but is adopted by two San who teach her how to survive in the desert.

Background

Smith later recalled "The women in some of my books are more powerful than the male characters, and that one was the breakthrough novel, because the female lead kicked the arse of all the males in the book... I was involved at the time with a very kick-arse woman [second wife Danielle Thomas] and she was fascinating, and I adapted her into the story.”