The Power of One is a novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by Bryce Courtenay

Bryce Courtenay

Arthur Bryce Courtenay AM is a South-African-born naturalized Australian novelist and one of Australia's most commercially successful authors.-Background and early years:...

, first published in 1989. Set in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 during the 1930s and 1940s, it tells the story of an Anglo-African

Anglo-African

Anglo-Africans are primarily White African people of largely British descent who live or come from Sub-Saharan Africa and are Anglophone. A large majority live in South Africa...

 boy who, through the course of the story, acquires the nickname of Peekay

Peekay

Peekay, is the name of the main character in the Bryce Courtenay's novels The Power of One and its sequel Tandia.-Overview:Peekay was born in South Africa in the 1930s. He was sent to an Afrikaans Boarding School, where he was tormented by his elder peers and teachers because he was English...

. (In the movie version

The Power of One (film)

The Power of One is a 1992 dramatic film based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Bryce Courtenay. Set in South Africa during the '30s and '40s, the film centers on the life of Peter Philip 'P.K.' Kenneth-Keith , a young English boy raised during the apartheid era, and his relationship with a...

, the protagonist's given name is Peter Phillip Kenneth Keith, but not in the book. The author identifies "Peekay" as a reference to his earlier nickname "Pisskop": Afrikaans for "Pisshead.")

It is written from the first person perspective, with Peekay narrating (as an adult, looking back) and trusting the reader with his thoughts and feelings

Emotion

Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

, as opposed to a detailed description of places and account of actions.

A film adaption

The Power of One (film)

The Power of One is a 1992 dramatic film based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Bryce Courtenay. Set in South Africa during the '30s and '40s, the film centers on the life of Peter Philip 'P.K.' Kenneth-Keith , a young English boy raised during the apartheid era, and his relationship with a...

 was released in 1992.
When his mother suffers from a nervous breakdown, five-year-old Peekay is sent to a tiny rural Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 boarding school.