A young white boy and a Zulu teen grow up together, building an extraordinary friendship as they explore the rugged Drakensberg mountains around a remote South African hotel during the apartheid era.
Jock and Papin forge an indelible bond while learning to love and appreciate each other’s cultures. Despite whispers from intolerant guests, the boys are oblivious to the consequences of their friendship. “There goes the zebra,” guests remark, claiming they can’t tell where the white boy ends and the black boy begins.
But the boys’ friendship is strong enough to conquer all—until society’s impossible expectations wrench them apart, leaving bitter disappointment and soul-deep wounds that will not heal.
A decade later, these long-lost friends converge on opposite sides of a harrowing battlefield, one a reluctant soldier, the other a passionate freedom fighter. Their intimate knowledge of the other’s way of life could be the very tools that save them … or destroy them. And an unimaginable choice will put Jock and Papin’s once-unbreakable bond to the ultimate test.
Jill Wallace, author of the multi-award-winning World War II novel War Serenade, brings together a fascinating coming-of-age story with a compelling tale of human connection in Zebra.
Inspired by the life of Athol Wallace
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“Wallace has done an incredible job of balancing the many complex aspects of this heartfelt and deeply personal tale…[and in] the accuracy and cultural significance of the dialogue…Narrator Peter Noble only further enhance[s] the unbridled emotional quality of the story with a stellar vocal performance…Highly recommended.”
— ReadersFavorite.com (audio review)
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Jill Wallace was born and bred in South Africa and lived the second half of her life in America. In South Africa, Jill was a contemporary dancer and a PRO for a shopping center conglomerate. After marrying her dream man, Athol, they moved to America, where Jill was a bad waitress, an excellent (but inconspicuous) movie extra, and a realtor for twenty-eight years. Her first novel, War Serenade, garnered multiple literary awards, and the screenplay was twice optioned for film. Her second novel, Zebra, is inspired by Athol’s life. Learn more about the author and her books at www.JillWallace.com.
Peter Noble, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, grew up in South Africa and studied drama and music at the University of Cape Town. He has worked extensively as an actor, touring South Africa with a small repertory theater company, as well as working on radio, TV, and film.