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A review by reneedecoskey
Hum If You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais
5.0
My God, what a beautiful book. It's the story of Robin Conrad, a 9-10 year old white girl growing up in South Africa with her parents, and Beauty Mbali, a black woman in her 50s who is searching for her daughter following the Soweto Uprising -- an event that ultimately lead to Robin's parents being murdered. This same event ultimately brings Beauty to Robin.
After her parents are murdered, Robin goes to live with her Aunt Edith, her mother's untamed sister who isn't quite ready to give up her job as an airline stewardess, jetting all over the world. At the same time, Maggie (aka The White Angel) is working to help Beauty find her daughter Nomsa who has been missing since the Soweto Uprising. To stay in Yeoville, Beauty needs to find a job. Maggie crosses paths with Robin at the library and knows that she needs a caretaker. Thus, Beauty comes to live (illegally) at Edith's house and take care of Robin while Edith is away. While Beauty continues to search for her daughter, Robin continues to learn more about Beauty, and Beauty teachers her about her culture, music, dance, etc. Robin's eyes are opened not only to issues around race, but also religion (her best friend, Morrie, is Jewish), and homophobia (Edith's best friend, Victor, is gay).
The concept of "Hum if you don't know the words" is presented first at the funeral for Robin's parents. As a child, she's not really supposed to be at the funeral, but Edith fights for her to be there. When a song starts to play that she doesn't know, Robin tells Edith that she hasn't learned it. Edith tells her, "Just do what I do, Robs. Hum if you don't know the words."
But it's a theme that appears other times throughout the book, as well. For example, when Beauty is first trying to find Nomsa, in the days after the Soweto Uprising, she reflects on her search, thinking that while she may not agree with what her daughter's done, if she could just find her, she'd be willing to listen to the song in Nomsa's heart and try to learn the words. While it's not as overtly stated as the example in the church with Edith, it's the same concept of humming if you don't know the words.
It also occurs on Christmas Day when Robin is at Victor's house with his friends -- all gay men -- as they crowd around a piano, singing. She doesn't know the words and is just about to hum along when a rock breaks through the window with a threatening note attached regarding Victor's lifestyle. It hits one of his friends who is injured. But in humming along, Robin is learning about their lives, as well.
She uses music, dance, and language to grow and extend herself into Beauty's world.
SPOILERS AHEAD
But she's also keeping a secret. As Beauty struggles to find Nomsa, Nomsa remains elusive, and the man with whom she's aligned herself -- Shakes -- threatens Beauty to stop trying to find her. Nomsa is able to get to the park one day in Yeoville, hoping to find Beauty. She finds Robin and asks her to give a letter and a meeting time. Robin is afraid of losing Beauty and, after much deliberation, chooses not to give her the note. The meeting time comes and goes, and Beauty never knows that Nomsa is waiting for her.
Until one day, while putting her journal back in its secret hiding place in the floor boards, Beauty discovers Robin's hiding spot, too. And in it, she finds Nomsa's letter, plus a Polaroid photo that Morrie took of Robin talking to Nomsa from a distance. Robin finds her looking at it and tries to explain, but something terrible happens. Beauty has a heart attack. The emergency personnel won't help her because she's black. Robin has to get Morrie's family, the Goldmans, to help. They have to drive her to a black hospital.
Beauty doesn't wake up, though. She's alive, but not awake. And Robin knows that she has to make things right. She has to find Nomsa for Beauty. She already knows where to find Phumla, Nomsa's best friend. She convinces King George - a character who works in the apartment building and smokes a lot of weed - to drive her to Soweto to Fatty Boom Boom's - a shebeen (essentially a speakeasy/illegal bar), where she knows Phumla was working. After a night spent arguing with Phumla to no avail, she dances with a boy in the shebeen to show that she is like them and knows about their culture. This boy tells her where she can find Shakes, and therefore where she can find Nomsa.
She has King George drive her to Shakes' hideout and risks her life to get to Nomsa, finally convincing Nomsa to come with her to see Beauty (after telling her that she never passed along the message for Beauty to meet Nomsa). Together, with Shakes shooting at the car as they drive away, they go to the hospital. Robin isn't allowed to go in but Nomsa tells her what window to find outside, and so Robin can stand outside, looking in the window to finally see Beauty and Nomsa together.
END SPOILERS
This book is so beautifully written. There is so much in it that, while taking place in South Africa in the 1970s, is relevant to the United States in 2020: racism, homophobia, power/class struggles, and a fear of "the other."
I liked that there is a glossary in the back to help with the words written in Xhosa, Afrikaans, etc. That was helpful. I also found that, for me, it was helpful to spend a little time on Wikipedia learning about the real-life Soweto uprising and what caused it (essentially it was led by black school children who were told that their classes would be conducted in Afrikaans instead of in their own regional languages). But it was brutal and bloody.
I can't say enough good things about this book. This review/summary has done no justice (I summarize so much so that I can look back later and recall details because I forget what I read so fast). I'll be recommending this to everyone and I look forward to reading If You Want to Make God Laugh.
After her parents are murdered, Robin goes to live with her Aunt Edith, her mother's untamed sister who isn't quite ready to give up her job as an airline stewardess, jetting all over the world. At the same time, Maggie (aka The White Angel) is working to help Beauty find her daughter Nomsa who has been missing since the Soweto Uprising. To stay in Yeoville, Beauty needs to find a job. Maggie crosses paths with Robin at the library and knows that she needs a caretaker. Thus, Beauty comes to live (illegally) at Edith's house and take care of Robin while Edith is away. While Beauty continues to search for her daughter, Robin continues to learn more about Beauty, and Beauty teachers her about her culture, music, dance, etc. Robin's eyes are opened not only to issues around race, but also religion (her best friend, Morrie, is Jewish), and homophobia (Edith's best friend, Victor, is gay).
The concept of "Hum if you don't know the words" is presented first at the funeral for Robin's parents. As a child, she's not really supposed to be at the funeral, but Edith fights for her to be there. When a song starts to play that she doesn't know, Robin tells Edith that she hasn't learned it. Edith tells her, "Just do what I do, Robs. Hum if you don't know the words."
But it's a theme that appears other times throughout the book, as well. For example, when Beauty is first trying to find Nomsa, in the days after the Soweto Uprising, she reflects on her search, thinking that while she may not agree with what her daughter's done, if she could just find her, she'd be willing to listen to the song in Nomsa's heart and try to learn the words. While it's not as overtly stated as the example in the church with Edith, it's the same concept of humming if you don't know the words.
It also occurs on Christmas Day when Robin is at Victor's house with his friends -- all gay men -- as they crowd around a piano, singing. She doesn't know the words and is just about to hum along when a rock breaks through the window with a threatening note attached regarding Victor's lifestyle. It hits one of his friends who is injured. But in humming along, Robin is learning about their lives, as well.
She uses music, dance, and language to grow and extend herself into Beauty's world.
SPOILERS AHEAD
But she's also keeping a secret. As Beauty struggles to find Nomsa, Nomsa remains elusive, and the man with whom she's aligned herself -- Shakes -- threatens Beauty to stop trying to find her. Nomsa is able to get to the park one day in Yeoville, hoping to find Beauty. She finds Robin and asks her to give a letter and a meeting time. Robin is afraid of losing Beauty and, after much deliberation, chooses not to give her the note. The meeting time comes and goes, and Beauty never knows that Nomsa is waiting for her.
Until one day, while putting her journal back in its secret hiding place in the floor boards, Beauty discovers Robin's hiding spot, too. And in it, she finds Nomsa's letter, plus a Polaroid photo that Morrie took of Robin talking to Nomsa from a distance. Robin finds her looking at it and tries to explain, but something terrible happens. Beauty has a heart attack. The emergency personnel won't help her because she's black. Robin has to get Morrie's family, the Goldmans, to help. They have to drive her to a black hospital.
Beauty doesn't wake up, though. She's alive, but not awake. And Robin knows that she has to make things right. She has to find Nomsa for Beauty. She already knows where to find Phumla, Nomsa's best friend. She convinces King George - a character who works in the apartment building and smokes a lot of weed - to drive her to Soweto to Fatty Boom Boom's - a shebeen (essentially a speakeasy/illegal bar), where she knows Phumla was working. After a night spent arguing with Phumla to no avail, she dances with a boy in the shebeen to show that she is like them and knows about their culture. This boy tells her where she can find Shakes, and therefore where she can find Nomsa.
She has King George drive her to Shakes' hideout and risks her life to get to Nomsa, finally convincing Nomsa to come with her to see Beauty (after telling her that she never passed along the message for Beauty to meet Nomsa). Together, with Shakes shooting at the car as they drive away, they go to the hospital. Robin isn't allowed to go in but Nomsa tells her what window to find outside, and so Robin can stand outside, looking in the window to finally see Beauty and Nomsa together.
END SPOILERS
This book is so beautifully written. There is so much in it that, while taking place in South Africa in the 1970s, is relevant to the United States in 2020: racism, homophobia, power/class struggles, and a fear of "the other."
I liked that there is a glossary in the back to help with the words written in Xhosa, Afrikaans, etc. That was helpful. I also found that, for me, it was helpful to spend a little time on Wikipedia learning about the real-life Soweto uprising and what caused it (essentially it was led by black school children who were told that their classes would be conducted in Afrikaans instead of in their own regional languages). But it was brutal and bloody.
I can't say enough good things about this book. This review/summary has done no justice (I summarize so much so that I can look back later and recall details because I forget what I read so fast). I'll be recommending this to everyone and I look forward to reading If You Want to Make God Laugh.