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A review by carolpk
Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais
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.