Reviews

Marais is truly talented at creating competing characters. I personally love novels that are told in different perspectives and she has done a wonderful job convincing the reader to invest their time in the three leading character's lives. I am also a fan of period pieces, so having the opportunity to read about South Africa in the 90's, especially through the perspective of what individuals could have experienced rather than through statistics or filtered media, was something that I'm glad to have taken up. However, I personally felt that the story dragged for the first 200 pages, and then flew by in the last 200. I was honestly surprised when the main characters all finally intersected so late in the book, since all of the build up to that moment was inching along. Although I do appreciate the effort that Marais went through to create such intricate lives for her characters, there were some points where I was feeling stuck and unmotivated to keep reading. The ending, thankfully, did feel satisfying enough to make up for the very slow first half.

lindseyslittlelibrary's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 solid stars! What a wild ride Bianca takes you on. There are so many layers to this story but love and compassion are the two themes that stick out the most to me.

sarcasticnerdette's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

virtualgiff's review against another edition

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5.0

A wonderful story about relationships, family, Race relations, empowerment and relationships between and the roles of women.

readingandsunshine's review against another edition

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5.0

A favorite of the year.

marilynw's review against another edition

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4.0

What a beautiful, heartbreaking book, of three very different women, brought together because of need and the love of a little black baby. Two of those women are white sisters and the other woman is his mother, who had her baby snatched from her at birth, because her mother loved her so much and wanted the best for her daughter's baby.

The book takes place in the 1990s Johannesburg, in post-Apartheid South Africa, during the raging and misunderstood AIDs epidemic, and as Nelson Mandela begins his presidency. Each woman has hit rock bottom, with black Zodwa searching mortuaries and then orphanages for her missing baby, white Ruth having destroyed her relationship with probably the only man who really loved her, and Ruth's sister, Delilah finding out her lost to her forever son has been shot in the head. Delilah and Ruth could not be more different and after a forty year estrangement face healing an impossible to mend relationship.

So much happens during this book and we get to learn about each woman with chapters from each of their viewpoints. Much of the book concerns little Mandla, who each woman loves in different and similar ways. But there is so much more here and in so many ways each very different woman has had similar experiences. All three women have secrets in their past that eventually get revealed to the others and those revelations bring understanding and compassion for what each woman has endured.

I'm not even coming close to touching all the trials of these women's lives, what they have endured and continue to endure along with the people of this time and country. If you read this book, be sure to read the afterward, which gives even more meaning to this touching story. So much of this is a love story...a story of so many different kinds of love.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and NetGalley for this ARC.

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