Pat Stevens

Dice of Life Pat Stevens

Publisher Marketing: Dice of Life is a coming of age novel set in South Africa of the seventies, written from the perspective of a boy leaving childhood, the story revolves around a group of apprentices and deals with the complexity of a racist society. Although not overly political in style, the book examines apartheid South Africa through the eyes of protagonist Harry Cheals, counterpointing his concerns against the easy attitude of his friends. They are the privileged white elite who enjoy life to its fullest, but Harry senses there will be a payback someday, and he tries to warn his carefree friends. There is his old navy buddy Warthog, who occupies himself solely with getting laid, and Wilfred who is ashamed to be an apartheid Afrikaner so he speaks with a false English accent and describes himself as a liberal. Warthog and Wilfred are oblivious to the ills that ail South Africa, for both concentrate remorselessly on their individual needs, so despite his ugliness Warthog is surprisingly successful with women. For Warthog has personality and is a good dancer, whereas Wilfred's personality is even clumsier than his dancing, so he quotes English poetry to make himself more attractive to women. Harry Cheals is friendly with them but also scornfully dismissive, he is aware of the worldwide revulsion for apartheid, but is convinced nothing can be done so he grows a cynical shell. Which hardens when Harry turns even more sceptical, after his betrayal by beautiful but promiscuous Liza, which drives heartbroken Harry to drunkenness and wild behaviour. This Dice of Life nearly kills the broken Harry Cheals, but then he finds the serenity to accept the things he cannot change; the courage to confront the things he can change and the wisdom to know the difference. Contributor Bio:  Stevens, Pat Patrick John Stevens was born in Johannesburg in the same month Alan Paton completed Cry, the Beloved Country, December 1946 was coincidently also the month that Steve Bantu Biko was born, so some characters in the first Pat Stevens novel derive from both. The Greatest Game is a four book anthology which describes the South African transition to democracy, the book details the scepticism of the liberal press that almost derailed the process, unfortunately these purveyors of doubt are still around today. So a follow up novel titled Hero of the Struggle is set against the rise to power of Jacob Zuma, it describes the complicity of the press in his eight year persecution, and the long struggle to effect the dropping of charges against an innocent man. A semi-autobiographical third book titled White Bird Under the Sun is available at Amazon, as is an anthology of selected short pieces titled Parables and Poems, while the keenly awaited new novel titled Zulu Vampire has now been released.