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lexgawellreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was full of so many deep and strong emotions. Loss, grief, fear, and love. I loved getting to read from the perspective of two South Africans, something that I haven’t read before!
rmarcin's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written story set in S. Africa during apartheid. Beauty is a black woman searching for her daughter who has gone missing. Robin is a 10-year old white girl who is now living with her aunt after the death of her parents. Her irresponsible and usually drunk aunt leaves Robin for weeks at a time, and hires Beauty to care for her.
Robin initially looks down on Beauty, as this is how she has been taught. But, through the caring of others, and how they treat Beauty, as well as the love and care Beauty shows to Robin changes their lives, and brings out the true meaning of family. Lyrical and touching.
Robin initially looks down on Beauty, as this is how she has been taught. But, through the caring of others, and how they treat Beauty, as well as the love and care Beauty shows to Robin changes their lives, and brings out the true meaning of family. Lyrical and touching.
sjgrodsky's review against another edition
2.0
If I were Bianca's editor at Putnam, here is what I would say:
"Bianca, we're not going to publish the manuscript you submitted. I want you to start on page 1 and re-write it, page by page. And I want you to think about these things as you rewrite.
First, you have a dynamite topic. There's plenty to say about apartheid, and the small details you reveal (such as the child being revolted by having to share dishes with someone who is black) are illuminating.
Second, the nine year old's point of view allows you to see some things and make some observations that an adult would not see. The trouble with this point of view is that even a precocious nine year old is incapable of the sophisticated observations this nine-year-old makes routinely.
One fix is to add an omniscient narrator. Or maybe your narrator can be a much older Robin, remembering and understanding events much better.
Rethink your characters. Do you really need Johan and Victor and the Goldmans and King George? Do you need Maggie and Wilhelmina? All of these characters zip in and out. We don't get to know much about them. They play roles in advancing the plot, but are not integral to the story.
And be mindful that readers usually know when an event is unlikely. Your book is full of unlikely events. Some examples:
Edith, the air hostess, is made to work shifts that take her away from home for three weeks at a time. Umm, no, most flight schedules keep you away for an night or two at most. And then you are home for the rest of the week.
Edith, not a stupid woman, tries to get jobs as a secretary but fails. Why doesn't she just ask for a transfer from air hostess to gate agent?
Beauty, the schoolteacher, writes a multipage letter to a nine year old full of long words and complex sentences.
King George has PLENTY of reasons to keep his distance and NO reason to take a nine year old white girl into Soweto.
I realize that all these events advance the plot but that is just my point: you need a plot that doesn't strain the reader's disbelief.
You have a good topic. Give me a simpler and more realistic story.
"Bianca, we're not going to publish the manuscript you submitted. I want you to start on page 1 and re-write it, page by page. And I want you to think about these things as you rewrite.
First, you have a dynamite topic. There's plenty to say about apartheid, and the small details you reveal (such as the child being revolted by having to share dishes with someone who is black) are illuminating.
Second, the nine year old's point of view allows you to see some things and make some observations that an adult would not see. The trouble with this point of view is that even a precocious nine year old is incapable of the sophisticated observations this nine-year-old makes routinely.
One fix is to add an omniscient narrator. Or maybe your narrator can be a much older Robin, remembering and understanding events much better.
Rethink your characters. Do you really need Johan and Victor and the Goldmans and King George? Do you need Maggie and Wilhelmina? All of these characters zip in and out. We don't get to know much about them. They play roles in advancing the plot, but are not integral to the story.
And be mindful that readers usually know when an event is unlikely. Your book is full of unlikely events. Some examples:
Edith, the air hostess, is made to work shifts that take her away from home for three weeks at a time. Umm, no, most flight schedules keep you away for an night or two at most. And then you are home for the rest of the week.
Edith, not a stupid woman, tries to get jobs as a secretary but fails. Why doesn't she just ask for a transfer from air hostess to gate agent?
Beauty, the schoolteacher, writes a multipage letter to a nine year old full of long words and complex sentences.
King George has PLENTY of reasons to keep his distance and NO reason to take a nine year old white girl into Soweto.
I realize that all these events advance the plot but that is just my point: you need a plot that doesn't strain the reader's disbelief.
You have a good topic. Give me a simpler and more realistic story.
kmmi_booklover's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
stratfam's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good book. It gave me an insight into South Africa during apartheid in the 1970s. Some of it was sad and some was funny. Mostly the relationships the characters built were tender. I took away one star because the character of Robin made me very mad a few times, which I guess she was supposed to do.
notinjersey's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book about life during Apartheid in South Africa. This is a beautiful story of loss and love about a young white girl whose parents are killed in an uprising and an older black woman whose daughter goes missing on the same day. I loved the way this story was told, with funny parts you wouldn’t expect, a surprising twist, and the voice of a child who learns how to love and that much of what she was taught about race to be untrue. The side characters, including a Jewish boy named Morrie, were entertaining as well. My buddy read group was able to chat on Instagram with the author and learning more about her writing process and feelings about the book was quite amazing as well.
carolpk's review against another edition
The Hook - The author herself hands down. I attended a weekend event called Booktopia at one of the best independent bookstores, Northshire, in Manchester, VT. I was looking forward to meeting and hear speak, Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists,one of my favorite books of 2018. Imagine my disappointment when she had to cancel due to illness. The author, taking her place, Bianca Marais. Bianca Marais, never heard of her. Oh, but was I in for a treat. Ms. Marais turned out to be one of the best speakers, a friendly, warm, globally aware woman, who was also funny, and darn good at trivia. I bought her debut book, Hum If You Don't Know The Words. What took me so long to read it? It's just the way the TBR pile crumbles.
The Line - There were many that I cherish so I will deviate from my usual one line and quote three:
”What greater gift can you give another than to say: I see you, I hear you, and you are not alone?”
”I knew the language of sorrow, my body had spoken it many times and I knew how shamed she was by the tears she did not want to cry. It didn't matter that the difference in our skin color separated us more than the span of the forty years that stretched out between us, I recognized myself.
The Sinker - Bianca Marais includes a glossary, very helpful for words I did not know. I was able to look up many unfamiliar terms used in South Africa, the locale of her book. Even with this, I was only on page 2 when I had to stop to jump up and search the net to find the Hadeda Bird that distracted one of the twins playing, I think, a game of hopscotch. The bird's loud, raucous call was the cause. Just in case the tiniest details such as this drive you to your computer, let me save you the time. Hadeda or Hadada Ibis .
Getting back to the book. This dual narrated story begins on June 13, 1976 in Boksburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, as Robin, the twin not distracted, soon to celebrate her 10th birthday, writes that number in the top square of the grid. It is an innocent scene but one in which there is a precarious balance between that innocence in the game that is played and the reality of the ”apartness” soon to come.
The other half of this narrative is Beauty Mbali , a Xhosa woman, forced to remain in Johannesburg when her daughter, Nomsa, goes missing after a brutal protest that leaves some dead in its bloody wake.
How the paths of these two unlikely people cross, one ten year old white girl living the privilege of the apartheid-era, the other, a poor but educated teacher, trying to eke out a living for herself and her children in a small village far away, is something you will have to discover for yourself. You know how I dislike telling you the whole story.
Hum If You Don't Know The Words is a beautifully written, often, heart-wrenching, historical novel, peppered with violence, racial issues and characters you will not forget. Don't let this serious theme keep you from reading the book as it also filled with love, hope and a good dose of humor, just as life, even in the worst of times, often is.
I'm pleased to also note that Marais' second book, If You Want To Make God Laugh will be available in July 2019 and that she will once again be a featured author at Northshire's Booktopia I don't know if tickets remain but check if you're interested in this fun gathering of book lovers.
The Line - There were many that I cherish so I will deviate from my usual one line and quote three:
”What greater gift can you give another than to say: I see you, I hear you, and you are not alone?”
”I knew the language of sorrow, my body had spoken it many times and I knew how shamed she was by the tears she did not want to cry. It didn't matter that the difference in our skin color separated us more than the span of the forty years that stretched out between us, I recognized myself.
The Sinker - Bianca Marais includes a glossary, very helpful for words I did not know. I was able to look up many unfamiliar terms used in South Africa, the locale of her book. Even with this, I was only on page 2 when I had to stop to jump up and search the net to find the Hadeda Bird that distracted one of the twins playing, I think, a game of hopscotch. The bird's loud, raucous call was the cause. Just in case the tiniest details such as this drive you to your computer, let me save you the time. Hadeda or Hadada Ibis .
Getting back to the book. This dual narrated story begins on June 13, 1976 in Boksburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, as Robin, the twin not distracted, soon to celebrate her 10th birthday, writes that number in the top square of the grid. It is an innocent scene but one in which there is a precarious balance between that innocence in the game that is played and the reality of the ”apartness” soon to come.
The other half of this narrative is Beauty Mbali , a Xhosa woman, forced to remain in Johannesburg when her daughter, Nomsa, goes missing after a brutal protest that leaves some dead in its bloody wake.
How the paths of these two unlikely people cross, one ten year old white girl living the privilege of the apartheid-era, the other, a poor but educated teacher, trying to eke out a living for herself and her children in a small village far away, is something you will have to discover for yourself. You know how I dislike telling you the whole story.
Hum If You Don't Know The Words is a beautifully written, often, heart-wrenching, historical novel, peppered with violence, racial issues and characters you will not forget. Don't let this serious theme keep you from reading the book as it also filled with love, hope and a good dose of humor, just as life, even in the worst of times, often is.
I'm pleased to also note that Marais' second book, If You Want To Make God Laugh will be available in July 2019 and that she will once again be a featured author at Northshire's Booktopia I don't know if tickets remain but check if you're interested in this fun gathering of book lovers.
jaklyn_heath_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Powerful! Wow!
Set in South Africa in the 70s during Apartheid, this novel follows a young white girl, Robin as she loses her parents to violence. It also follows Beauty, a mother of 4 who has experienced her own losses in life and is searching for her missing daughter after the Soweto protests turn violent. Beauty is hired to be Robin’s caregiver and their stories unfold together.
It is a story of love and loss. It deals with themes of violence and racism in a time when South Africa was divided completely. It is sad, it is moving, it is so powerful in the words and their message.
Set in South Africa in the 70s during Apartheid, this novel follows a young white girl, Robin as she loses her parents to violence. It also follows Beauty, a mother of 4 who has experienced her own losses in life and is searching for her missing daughter after the Soweto protests turn violent. Beauty is hired to be Robin’s caregiver and their stories unfold together.
It is a story of love and loss. It deals with themes of violence and racism in a time when South Africa was divided completely. It is sad, it is moving, it is so powerful in the words and their message.
k_bridgeman's review against another edition
5.0
Highly recommend the audio version of this book - it is outstanding.