This review is copied from my blog post

Review - Scatterlings by Resoketswe Manenzhe
Title: Scatterlings *


Author: Resoketswe Manenzhe


Rating: 3.75 stars / 5 stars


*This post contains affiliate links. If you make purchases after using these links, I will earn a percentage of your purchase without any further cost to you.


Favorite Quote: “I, on the other hand, can’t say my people came from this place or that one. I only know that they likely descended from West Africa. But West Africa is massive, so massive, in fact, that when European nations met in Berlin to divide its resources, over a dozen new countries were cut into its face.” Resoketswe Manenzhe. Scatterlings. HarperVia, 2022, e-book ed.


Review: Thank you to the NetGalley platform and the publisher, HarperVia, for the free e-ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.


According to the Oxford English Dictionary (my favorite dictionary, by far), a scatterling is “[a] wandering or vagabond person; a vagrant.” “scatterlings.” Oed.com, 2024 (17 Aug 2024).


It’s interesting, and impressive, when an entire novel can so masterfully be captured in all its multitudes in a single-word title. Scatterlings. This book contains nothing but - a daughter torn from her home, transplanted to England, who flees England and on a mission to find her home again she becomes first a wife and then a mother, never finding the place that is hers. And, upon her death (TW: suicide), her daughter and husband begin their own pilgrimage, forced from their home by the anti-miscegenation laws - Cape Town’s Immorality Act of the 1920s.


And that is just what this novel offers on the surface. Vibrating just beneath the novel’s most external layer, there are countless stories of displacement - of shifting places, physical and metaphysical. And at its core is Dido, a young child forced to flee her home after the Immorality Act and her mother’s suicide and her sister’s death.


Aside from its striking narrative, this novel’s structure is also fascinating and also lends itself to the ever-moving characteristic of the novel. First there is the relatively standard narrative form - the novel opens with Bram hearing more about the Immorality Act and the events that occur as time unfolds.


But then, following her death, Alisa’s story is told through journal entries and other snippets from her perspective.


And then there’s Dido, learning about the world as she is forced to flee, forced to dress as a boy, and forced to walk away from the land and the house where she lived with her mother and her sister.


So, both narrative and structure mirror one another in the ever-moving, often chaotic moments that collide throughout the book.


The aspect of this book that isn’t working - or just isn’t working as well as the rest of it - is the ending. The ending is dark, and mysterious, and leaves questions. This is something that happens throughout the rest of the novel, quite successfully. The problem with the ending is that it’s just a bit too obscure, such that it’s too unclear why it’s ending where it is.


About that Quote: At its core, this book is about racism and colonialism and the devastating effects of each on individuals, on families, and on entire cultures. And this quote ties those themes to the metaphor that explores the theme - that of the scatterling. This quote shows, with physical clarity, the damage of colonization - the effects of it being literally carved into the face of Africa - but so too does this quote show displacement, a constant thread throughout the narrative.


Have you read Scatterlings? Share your thoughts below!


(Incomplete) list of TWs for Scatterlings: Su*cide, Racism, Child De*th, SA (at least implied)

I was attracted to this story based on its synopsis and the beautiful setting of Africa. It was filled with lyrical prose, but this book just didn’t work for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Via for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was very interested in this book due to much of the story taking place in South Africa in the earlier 1900s. We first meet Abram or Bram who is South African of English or Dutch heritage. Alisa, Abram's wife. Her ancestors were brought as slaves, she lost her parents and she was adopted by a man who raiser her in the UK. Finally, there's Dido, their eldest daughter who has a story of her own. There are troubles in their marriage and a tragic event changes the course of their lives. You're not really sure where the truth lies and what really happened but it's safe to say that there's a bit of truth in each of their stories. There's also another secret that's been kept. Overall, I found the South African historical references interesting especially as it pertains to discrimination and racism. Yet, there is also the aspect of family relations and the many different perspectives that create tension and misunderstanding that shape all of these characters' lives. It was an enjoyable read.

Scatterling’s centers around a bi-racial family and effects that Africa’s Immorality Act has on their relationships. To add to the mix, Alisa, the black mother, was brought up with a white English family. Her parents were slaves and she was orphaned at a young age and taken in by a white merchant.

Alisa never feels like she belongs anywhere and spends most of her adult life trying to find her place. Abram, her husband is a mix of Swedish and English, but has lived in South Africa most all of his life, considering Africa his home and his country.

I found this story to be very sad, but the writing about the characters and their feelings was beautiful. It was a bit difficult making the switch from the journaling to the dialogue. Interspersed throughout the book were African tales that had been told through the generations, which I found very enjoyable. After a somewhat rocky start, I came to enjoy this novel, in spite of its melancholy tone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for allowing me to read an advance copy. I’m happy to give my honest review.

Scatterlings is a beautifully poetic look at South Africa as it leans into the beginnings of Apartheid during the colonial period. The words are almost lyrical, and the portrait of depression it paints is vivid and palpable. Abram and Alisa are a beautiful couple, who should have been incredibly in love. Depression and the deeply racist policies of their government come together in a torrent of discontent, which leads to tragedy, and a world torn apart. This book was eloquently written, and the ending left ambiguous for the reader to decide their fates.

One of the primary reasons I love reading — and I’m not the first to say this — is the deep empathy reading about others’ experiences develops in ourselves. Scatterlings is such a novel that opens us up to new ways of understanding the past and the present, others and ourselves. This is a novel that will move you in many ways: to sadness, to fear, to loathing, to empowerment, to depression.

This is a novel in the vein of Beast of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala or The Bird Tattoo: A Novel by Dunya Mikhail. It is fiction of the very real, very tangible suffering in our world, albeit in a time now past (though, not gone, forgotten, or fully healed).

The novel is a historical fiction, taking place in South Africa as its racist, anti-black Apartheid policies began to ramp up. It revolves around the enforcement of the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No. 55 of 1949, and the very real fall out in people’s lives.

The scattered are the wives, husbands, and children of these mixed-race marriages, suddenly made illegal in the eyes of the law. The novel traces the actions of a family and what they each individually must do to survive this.

The outcomes are tragic, but the reader who chooses this subject matter is one who understands that to witness is a step towards reparation.

This tale was mesmerizing and bewildering. From the start I was captivated by the lyrical nature of the prose that built the scenes of a South Africa on the cusp of apartheid in the depths of colonialism. To have a tale of soured interracial love at this point in history made the story all that more engrossing. I deeply enjoyed this read and was thinking about it when I wasn’t caught between the pages. I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley and I’m so thankful I did. I may have been pulled in by the cover and intrigued by the title, but I read each page because of the story that was being told. I most definitely would recommend this book to a reader interested in historical fiction told from a perspective not often experienced.

This book just wasn’t up my alley. The writing, at time, was hard to follow and I kept hoping things would turn around.

Based on the main plot, I truly hoped this book would have left a more lasting impression on me, as someone generally interested. But I unfortunately forgot about this book just as quickly as I began it.

Was it bad? No. Was it memorable? Not for me.

I simultaneously loved and loathed the writing style of this book. The words were lyrical and beautiful and captivating but the format was overall choppy and made it hard to fully immerse.

This book was pulsing with emotion but I still felt slightly detached.

Life is too short to struggle to finish a book. This looked interesting but just not for me. I have been coming back to it for months determined to finish it, but it just didn’t hold my interest. I could not connect with the characters at all.
Thank you HarperVia and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The characters in this novel are striking and impactful. Manenzhe's portryal of Alisa and her navigation between black/white is so dynamic. I did not like the inclusion of the journal, but otherwise I enjoyed the structure and writing style of this book.

This is a novel of beautiful language. The prose is other-worldly and I think the plot is rather loose, but when the writing is this beautiful, the looseness of plot is but a minor annoyance. Alissa is a troubled lady who finds her settled in 1920’s South Africa with her Englishman husband. When the Immorality Act is passed which basically outlaws relations between Whites and Natives, Alissa, husband and their two daughters realize that a change in place is a necessity.

This prompts Alissa to initiate a horrid act, and leaves the reader with a big ? Later when some of her journals are found, we are let in on her state of mind, but nothing detailing the whys. The construction of great paragraphs and greater sentences aids the reader in overlooking the the thinness of explanation. And just as you might begin to tire of such, the novel concludes, and you will sit mesmerized by the language you just experienced and sometime later may add a little disappointing note about plot. I can’t wait to read whatever is next. A beautiful writer she is. Thanks to Netgalley for an DRC.

Scatterlings follows an interracial couple living at the onset of South African apartheid, at the time of the passing of the immorality act, of which they are caught in the crossfire. Circumstances lead to choices being made and the fallout that comes with it. The story is woven between folklore and plot. While the plot is a little weak in places, the prose is beautiful and lyrical to the point that you honestly don't care.

Scatterlings was a poetic literary read set in South Africa in 1927. The book focuses on on a Dutch/Englishman married to a woman with African ancestry and their mixed race daughters. In the novel, readers see a mix of African myth and folklore with the cultures of slave labor colonialism that were dominant at the time. Key topics include displacement of peoples, racial identities, mental health and suicide, marriage, colonization, and more. I found the prose to be somewhat repetitive in places, although that may have been intentional. Overall, I really enjoyed this literary fiction. I think some of it definitely went over my head, but the key concepts were wonderfully thought provoking.

An interesting background and history of a little known continent and culture. The fulsome descriptions of scenery and myths provide a deep insight into African mores and give the reader a real feel for the country and its people, both Black and White. Using the vehicle of Alisa's diary entries is an interesting storytelling vehicle, but this reader felt they were a bit too long and detailed.

Overall, with so many books about Europe and now Asia, it is important that tales of Africa get appropriate attention as well.,

Centered around the Immorality Act. It prohibits sex between races. It’s 1927. The story centers on Abram and his wife Alisa. Alisa is black, they have two daughters of mixed race. Abram learns that the protection his family has enjoyed is at risk. Once the law goes into effect, Abram is hesitant to meet their situation head on and his reticence marks the beginning of the end for these two and a place from which neither will emerge unchanged

A beautifully woven tapestry of familial love, loss, grief and survival. Manenzhe’s prose was a bit too artful for my personal preference, but it did add a sense of gravitas to the story as a whole.

Resoketswe Martha Manerzhe’s Scatterlings takes the prize as the most powerful book I have read in 2022. Set in South Africa as the House of Assembly passes the 1927 Immorality Act, the novel focuses primarily on Johannesburg’s already troubled van Zijl family and its disintegration in the weeks leading up to the law’s enactment. Threatened by Daniel Ross, an officer of the House of Assembly, and worried about what will happen to herself and her daughters in face of the law’s enforcement, Alisa van Zijl carries out a desperate act resulting in two deaths and further endangering the survivors.

Readers see into the minds of the wealthy white Dutch-English father, the black Caribbean/British mother, the older of their two young daughters, the father’s estranged former best Dutch friend Johannes in the Transvall, and two native South African servant women--Mmakoma/”Nanny Gloria” in Johannesburg and Možaži/Josephina in the Transvall.

Divided into five multi-chapter parts titled “Children of the First Gods,” “The Gift of Bonds for These Orphan People,” “To Teach a Monkey to Climb,” “To Africa,” and “Children of the Sky God,” Scatterlings moves between the spirit world and the physical world. It encompasses African folklore, superstitions, traditions, the natural landscape, and heartbreaking colonial history while dramatizing loss, displacement, and the human need for hope, belonging, and home.

Although relatively short at roughly 225 pages, Scatterlings is not a book to skim. It demands the reader’s full attention. With that attention and perhaps a few quick Google searches focused on historical events or geography, readers interested in international fiction should find this a thought-provoking, emotional portrayal of the devastating human cost of colonialism and the search for emotional peace and belonging.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperVia for an advance reader copy of this highly- recommended South African novel.

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"I tell you, the years will clean your heart. The bitterness will fade. Where darkness now lives, will be joy again". This is my favorite quote from this book.

Dido and Emilia are the young daughters of Mr. and Mrs. van Zijl. Their mother is African and their father is white. Along comes a man who tells them that a law has just passed that makes it illegal for white men to marry natives. Alisa van Zijl (the mother of Dido and Emilia) has dealt with depression on and off for many years and when she hears that this new law is being put in place it seems to be the last straw. She drugs her daughters as well as herself and then burns their house down with them in it. Alisa and Emilia do not survive but Dido and her father do.

Dido and her father end up packing their things and leaving. They take refuge at a home of an old friend of Mr. Van Zijl. There they read one of the salvaged mother’s journals to try to make sense of why she did what she did.
This book was mostly about a woman who tried finding herself. Alisa van Zijl was adopted by white parents and found herself trying to piece together her ancestry. A very good read.

A historical drama that takes place in South Africa in the early 1900's. We meet parents with two daughters. Early in the book a tragedy strikes and we watch as the aftermath of it plays out. The writing is lyrical and beautiful in the telling.

I was just a little bit confused with all of the shifting in the stories and timelines. It was hard to keep track and stay connected with each of the characters with all that was going on and then add in the folklore. This had great potential but for me I didn't connect well with it.