Perfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.
Bianca Marais holds a Certificate in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto's SCS, and her work has been published inWorld Enough and Crime. Before turning to writing, she started a corporate training company and volunteered with Cotlands, where she assisted care workers in Soweto with providing aid for HIV/AIDS orphans. Originally from South Africa, she now resides in Toronto with her husband.
Praise for Hum If You Don't Know the Words "Radiant...a stirring
ode to a country's painful maturation."--O, The Oprah Magazine
"Richly drawn...[The characters'] journeys and eventual love
poignantly demonstrate that nothing is simply black or white."--USA
Today
"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."--Publishers
Weekly (starred review) "Lyrical...A captivating story about
finding family in unexpected places and maintaining culture in the
face of adversity."--Library Journal (starred review) "Bianca
Marais' new novel, which was inspired by her own life, will sweep
you up and not let you go until the final page."--Bookish.com, Must
Read Summer Books of 2017 "A satisfying emotional journey."--Kirkus
Reviews
"A deeply compelling story of love, loss, racism, sacrifice, and
family."--Hello Giggles "Breathtaking...Intense, powerful and
moving, Hum If You Don't Know the Words is an exalting anthem of
love, family and humanity."--Shelf Awareness "With its vivid,
emotional scene-setting, alternating narration and tense plotting,
this novel is a thoughtful, compelling
page-turner."--Goodhousekeeping.com "[Marais] brings her homeland
to life with compelling descriptions of both city and rural life
and the great divide that separated people during the apartheid
era."--Cedar Rapids Gazette "An important contribution to
literature about racism in South Africa...it's a powerful story and
one with a perspective many of us haven't read."--Terry McMillan,
New York Times bestselling author of Waiting to Exhale and I Almost
Forgot About You
"Bianca Marais's compassionate debut paints a picture of the
alternately beautiful and tragic strategies we humans employ to
meet our needs for love. Hum If You Don't Know the Wordstakes us
into the human heart's wiliness as it attempts to survive the
frontal attack of racism. While the attack is a sin, the response
is wondrous and wounding and an illustration of the resiliency that
can transcend the color of a person's skin."--Rebecca Wells, author
of The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder and Divine Secrets of
the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
"Bianca Marais's stunning debut offers an evocative and
thought-provoking look at the unlikely relationship between two
South Africans. Set against a backdrop of apartheid-era South
Africa, Marais illuminates the experiences of both black and white
South Africans during one of the bloodiest periods in the country's
history and gives us an emotionally powerful and historically
important story about forgiveness, love and redemption."--Tara
Conklin, author of The House Girl "Bianca Marais's compelling debut
novel is a heartrending coming-of-age tale that not only
illuminates the horrors of apartheid South Africa but also speaks
with unmistakable relevance to the racism of our own
times."--Jennifer Chiaverini, author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker
and Fates and Traitors "Beautiful and tragic, intimate and
sweeping, Hum If You Don't Know the Words is a gorgeous debut
novel. You don't read this story, you live it. Bianca Marais
creates characters with such love and compassion they nearly walk
off the page."--Tish Cohen, bestselling author of Town House and
The Truth About Delilah Blue "I read this book in a gallop,
compelled to discover the intertwined fates of its tragic heroine,
Beauty Mbali, and her young orphaned charge. Hum If You Don't Know
the Words is an exciting and compassionate novel about a period of
devastating cruelty in South African history. With passion and
grace Marais makes the political personal and the personal
intimate."--Meira Cook, author of Nightwatching and The House on
Sugarbush Road "Bianca Marais parts the curtain on an unexpected
view of Apartheid-era South Africa in this gutsy, surprising, and
richly imagined tale. It will be a long time before the reader
forgets the novel's compelling characters, and the tremendous
determination, yearning, and humanity with which they navigate
complex emotional landscapes in their intersecting quests for
connection, family, and justice."--Ania Szado, bestselling author
of Studio Saint-Ex "Expertly crafted, both lyrical and gripping,
with some truly poignant moments especially pertaining to
parenthood."--Emma Hooper, author of Etta and Otto and Russell and
James "Bianca Marais has written a haunting and moving novel of
Apartheid South Africa that held me in its thrall from beginning to
end. Against a backdrop of legislated racism, Marais brilliantly
entwines two disparate voices in a searing story of love, loss and
recovery. Masterful and memorable."--Terry Fallis, two-time winner
of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour "A classic
loss-of-innocence story with a striking social
backdrop...Well-researched and dosed with humor and
humility."--Seattle Times
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