Bryce Courtenay: the charming, charismatic, compulsive liar

Best-selling author Bryce Courtenay ('The Power of One') and genius adman behind "Louie the Fly" had a secret past and was also a flawed husband and father. Sarah Kanowski interviews Courtenay's son, Adam, as he tries to make sense of the lies, ego and heartbreak upon the release of his book My Father Bryce.

When Adam Courtenay was growing up, he saw his dad Bryce as a herBryce worked in advertising so he knew all the latest, coolest trends, and at bedtime, Bryce told Adam and his brothers amazing stories about his life in South Africa and the Courtenay family’s noble origins.

When Bryce went from adman to wildly successful writer with his debut novel, The Power of One, Adam couldn’t have been prouder.

As Adam grew older, he became aware of the gaps in the stories his father told so well, and realised just how many lies Bryce had told his family and the nation.

At first, Adam tried to ignore the fables and fibs - he wanted badly to believe them because they made Bryce's storytelling so powerful.

But when Adam became a writer himself, an author of historical books and a journalist, he needed to champion the truth above all else.

Further information

My Father Bryce is published by Hachette.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.