Hum If You Don't Know the Words

Starred review from May 1, 2017
Nine-year-old Robin loves detective stories. So when the police arrive the night her parents are killed, she mistakenly believes she is now part of her favorite radio series. It’s a harsh awakening for her to realize that South Africa in the 1970s is a place far more violent than those stories. With her parents gone, Robin’s aunt puts her in the care of a Xhosa nanny, Beauty, a woman with her own tragic secrets: Beauty has vowed to stay in Johannesburg as long as it takes to find her daughter, Nomsa, who has disappeared after a student protest ends in bloodshed. However, as the days stretch into months, Beauty finds herself growing increasingly attached to the motherless white child she is being paid to raise. Likewise Robin grows to love Beauty, despite knowing her dead parents would disapprove of her close relationship with the black woman. In this standout debut Marais handles topics such as grief and racism with a delicate intensity that will make readers fall in love with her characters. From the first few heartfelt chapters to a fast-paced and heart-wrenching ending, Marais has created a stunning historical drama that shouldn’t be missed.

May 1, 2017
The paths of a young white girl and a black woman intersect when the violence of apartheid shatters both their lives.Set in Johannesburg, Marais' debut novel centers on Beauty Mbali and 9-year-old Robin Conrad, each of whom is impacted by the 1976 Soweto Uprising, in which white police officers opened fire on peacefully protesting black schoolchildren. Robin's parents are killed in the backlash, while Beauty's daughter, Nomsa, goes missing from her Soweto school after taking part in the uprising. Beauty's search for Nomsa leads her to Robin's aunt, who hires Beauty as a caretaker for Robin so she can remain in the city and continue her quest to find her daughter. Because Robin is a child who has suffered traumatic loss (rendered in poignant, vivid detail), it's hard to feel anything but sympathy for her even when her selfish decisions have grave consequences for her beloved Beauty. While the novel goes to admirable lengths to treat every member of its diverse supporting cast with complexity through copious dialogue and at least a hint of a back story for each, the characters can feel like types (the liberated single career woman, the liberal Jewish family, the kindly gay best friend, the helpful mixed-race janitor) meant to give proof of the novel's pro-equality intentions. Moreover, Robin's declarations about racism ("it's easier to treat people terribly if you tell yourself they're nothing like you") are at once too sophisticated for a child and too simplistic to be the novel's main message. To the novel's credit, the double point of view structure adds nuance and depth to the twice-told scenes, and the story never fails to create a sense of urgency at every narrative development. Apart from her occasional philosophizing, Robin's character is a refreshingly accurate and often downright hilarious portrayal of girlhood. An entertaining page-turner that, while somewhat pat in its treatment of racial politics, provides a satisfying emotional journey.

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Starred review from May 1, 2017

DEBUT In this lyrical first novel, Marais transports readers to 1970s South Africa, when apartheid still ruled. Interwoven chapters follow the story of ten-year-old Robin, coming of age after her parents are found dead and she resettles with carefree aunt Edith in Johannesburg, and of Beauty, a Xhosa woman actively searching for daughter Nomsa, who goes missing after a Soweto uprising. With vivid imagery, Marais brings compelling characters to life to create a haunting novel evocative of works by Chinelo Okparanta and Nadia Hashimi. After Beauty is hired to care for Robin, their fates become forever entwined by Maggie, a librarian-activist secretly assisting Xhosa people in seeking refuge from authorities. Robin's search for solace leads to blossoming friendships with Morrie, who's struggling to find his place within the marginalized Jewish community, and Victor, navigating life in a world where neighbors are suspicious of his sexuality. There is also Robin's sister Cat, who is both a comfort and a hindrance until she is not; revealing more would be saying too much. VERDICT A captivating story about finding family in unexpected places and maintaining culture in the face of adversity; Marais proves to be a writer to watch. [See Prepub Alert, 2/13/17.]--Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2017
The Soweto uprising of 1976, which left an indelible mark on South African society, frames Marais' soulful debut. The narrative alternates between two voices: nine-year-old Robin Conrad, who, until she loses her parents in the unrest, enjoys a happy childhood in the suburbs of Johannesburg; and Beauty Mbali, an educated black woman who leaves her village in the Bantu countryside and two children in the care of elders to find her daughter, Nomsa, in the bowels of Soweto. Nomsa has allegedly gone to Soweto to study, but as Beauty finds out, she is gradually swept up in the seismic political shifts that spread across the country. The characters' voices ring true to their personal histories, and the tentative bond that develops between Beauty and Robin is tenderly, sometimes too cloyingly, rendered, keeping in mind the complexities and the historical baggage of black-white interaction in apartheid South Africa. If Marais' novel feels a little bloated at times, it is nevertheless an engaging portrayal of two ordinary citizens swept up by the tidal wave of history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)