Curveball: Life Never Comes At You Straight - Paperback

by Gustav Preller (Author)

What Thomas Bland, formerly senior manager now plain senior, expects upon his retirement in the seaside city of Durban isn't remotely what he gets. His wife, Caro, leaves him, and he loses friends through betrayal, illness, and murder - events that threaten to destroy what little relevance he has left in the world. All the while, socio-political storm clouds are gathering over South Africa with most of its citizens, including Tom, either inured to them or choosing not to see them. His dream shattered, Tom seeks love before it is too late. This time he gets more than he hopes for. After decades in a straightjacket at the office, his edges blunted by corporate convention, he goes on a hedonistic trip of Roman proportions. He also finds a dream island in the tropics, a surfing paradise, where he spends happy days. But matters reach a tipping point as Tom's personal journey and the fate of the country converge. Tom gets caught up in events bigger than he could ever have imagined, and he has to fight for his life, and love.

Author Biography

GUSTAV PRELLER worked for multinational corporations in South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK in the fields of fast moving consumer goods, advertising, sports goods, and banking. He is the author of three novels: Icarus over Hong Kong (2009), The Twelfth Delegate (2011), and Last Train to Retreat (2013). He lives in South Africa on Kwazulu-Natal's north coast. Curveball: Life Never Comes At You Straight won the Proverse Prize 2015.