Title: The wildest beauty
Author: Michiel Heyns
ISBN: 9780798185813
Publisher: Human & Rousseau
Danny Marais is the twin brother of the beautiful, talented Charlie.
The wildest beauty is an account of their early childhood to their eventual enlistment in the First World War. From their placidly peaceful Stellenbosch schooldays to, ultimately, the battle of Delville Wood, Danny keeps a loving but half-resentful eye on his brother.
Though set largely in wartime, the novel is an intimate account of a small group of friends and family, inter alia the loving parents left behind in Stellenbosch. Then there is Danny’s life-changing encounter in the darkened streets of wartime London with a wryly cynical, battle-scarred officer.
In the midst of the greatest conflict in history, facing the wild beauty of “the abyss of unmeaning”, Danny discovers the power of love, between friends, family and even foes.