April Fool's Day cover art

April Fool's Day

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April Fool's Day

By: Bryce Courtenay
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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About this listen

 This is Bryce Courtenay's moving tribute to his son, Damon, a hemophiliac who died from medically acquired AIDS on April 1, 1991, at the age of 24.

April Fool's Day is controversial, painful and heartbreaking, yet has a gentle humor. It is also life-affirming and, above all, a testimony to the incredible regenerative strength of love: how when we confront our worst, we can become our best. This tragic yet uplifting story will change the way you think. From the author of The Power of One.

©2013 Christine Courtenay (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd Physical Illness & Disease Celebrity Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Witty

Critic Reviews

"April Fool's Day is one of those rare, wholly beautiful books that lets life speak for itself." (The Australian)
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I had only just joined Audible, April Fools Day was my free book and what a way to hook me in. Absolutely loved this Bryce Courtney dedication to his beautiful boy. So wonderfully narrated, I laughed, cried and loved every minute.

A beautifully written and narrated love story

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Having lost a child and experienced years of hospital admissions, this story was all too raw and emotional. Beautifully told with such brutal honesty. It’s so true, the majority of hospital staff are what you expect, brilliant, dedicated and caring. But there are a large number of incompetent, arrogant and unprofessional fools who belong nowhere near sick people.

Can’t believe Bryce wrote his first couple of beautiful books while experiencing all this!

So raw and emotional

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A beautiful, bitter wonderful story of a family, young love and a needless tragedy. A must read for those with courage.

Frustrating but heartbreaking

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This is a beautiful book so sad but shows the importance of living each day to the fullest thank you Damin

The love

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What a book to listen to. I had read this year's earlier and always cherished the story. I hadn't liked ready Bryce Courtenay as a fictional author but as a biographical non fiction writer, his usual extremely descriptive and elaborate writing fits the narrative so well.
The book has so much to offer in way of story, but also offering input from others which adds to really well describing Damon.
A book for the bucket list, and for a good cry.
the narrator is very well suited and tells the story so emotionally accurate that you can almost sense him holding tears back at the difficult parts.
Great book for an audio book! must must read!!

Gold Standard Emotive Storytelling

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I loved this book Bryce is a brilliant writer. Humphrey Bower is a brilliant narrator

personal tragedy

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oh dear Damon, dear Celeste. i read your book. thank you. love to bryce and benita RIP. MY HEART IS RIPPED OPEN but better for knowing you all. pete

for loves sake

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Put simply this is another Bryce Courtenay masterpiece of story telling and a beautifully read by Humphrey Bower

Another classic

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terribly sad but heartfelt and a great story written very personally from the Dad angle.

another brilliant tale l

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[{ "answer" : "Honest, vibrant, sad.", "type" : "Overall", "question" : "If you could sum up April Fool's Day in three words, what would they be?", "id" : 44, "typeString" : "overall" }, { "answer" : "The \"no holds barred'' approach that makes you feel like you're actually there. Humphrey Bower's magnificent narration, once again, brought this story to life.", "type" : "Story", "question" : "What did you like best about this story?", "id" : 1, "typeString" : "story" }, { "answer" : "Every scene was relevant and wonderfully written and narrated.", "type" : "Performance", "question" : "Which scene did you most enjoy?", "id" : 25, "typeString" : "performance" }, { "answer" : "I laughed and cried repeatedly!", "type" : "Genre", "question" : "Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?", "id" : 56, "typeString" : "genre" }, { "answer" : "An honest and informative portrayal of the life of a special young man.", "type" : "Misc", "question" : "Any additional comments?", "id" : -1, "typeString" : "misc" } ]

Amazing true story

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