In this lyrical and heartbreaking novel set in 1927 South Africa, a multi-racial family is torn apart by the Immorality Act.

Scatterlings was a slow, but interesting read for me. This book is historical fiction set in South Africa in 1927, when the Immorality Act was passed. The story revolves around Abram and Alisa and their daughters, Dido and Emilia. Abram is of Dutch descent and Alisa is Black, the daughter of former slaves in the Caribbean who was raised by a white couple in England.

Obviously, the Immorality Act complicates Abram and Alisa’s lives. As Abram considers leaving the country with his family, Alisa commits a terrible act, doing something that she thinks will be best for her children.

This story is built around several different points of view. A large portion of the book is excerpts of Alisa’s journal, and that is how the reader learns her backstory. We see her struggles with mental illness and with feelings of displacement. And we see how her actions affected the lives of her husband and daughters.

The characters in this story are complex and deeply wrought. I appreciate how the author gives the reader intricate people to drive the story forward.

The setting is also very well done. This book provides a very detailed sense of place, and the reader falls in love with South Africa along with the characters.

Ultimately I felt this novel was about finding belonging and coming home. Each character in the book deals with displacement in their own ways, and I love how the author weaved different cultural beliefs together to show how these characters find their own homes (physical and metaphorical).

This beautiful and tragic story centers on two charachters, Abram a white Dutch English gentleman who believes he belongs everywhere and Alisa, the descendant of slaves, born in Jamaica and raised in England by her adoptive white parents, who cannot find a place where she feels she belongs. We learn in the course of the story that the two meet and fall in love aboard a ship at sea which, in the way that the scene is drawn, seems like no place at all.

The two are headed to South Africa, Abram because of the strange, exotic nature of the place and Alisa because Africa may well be the place she feels at home. Both are tragically disappointed. Abram realizes that despite his good will and optimism, he is seen as an enemy of a State that is about to institutionalize a wall existing between the White population and the original occupants of the land. Alisa discovers that this place is one that she belongs least and begins to loathe and love her husband at the same time. Both discover that they cannot rest astride this wall. Tragedy and exile follow.

This is a heart-breaking story of both a couple and a country. The very best parts are told in the from the viewpoint of the indigenous population who see the world in a timeless way where the land, the gods and their ancestors exist in harmony with them. A profound sense of belonging to a place and people results and serves as a contrast to the world in which Abram and Alisa must exist. This latter world is revealed through parts of Alisa's diary. The narrative in this part is disjointed and does not fit well with the rest of the story. Given the story line perhaps this was intentional. This is a unique book that gave me insights into South Africa that I had never had before. I am grateful to Netgalley and HarperVia for an ARC of this book in turn for an honest review.

Very interesting read, though it gets off to a slow start. Could have used a little more historical context with dates, for international readers such as myself, who aren't as familiar with the beginnings of apartied and the laws enacting it.

This is a great story and relevant. I learned a lot about laws and history and struggles and more! I recommended this book because you will learn a lot while being immersed in a great story.

I saw this book after my travels to Africa and knew I HAD to read it What a beautiful and powerful book. The words will nestle beneath your skin and sink somewhere deep inside. The beautifully written novel about love, loss, and the unjustifiable repercussions of the immorality act introduced to South Africa in the 1920s. While Rešoketšwe tells this story of tristesse with sweeping and lyrical prose, the reader can get lost in the poetics of the narrative. The theme of the story is interesting - the duality of citizenship and social construct of race, but there wasn’t enough to propel me along. I found myself getting lost in the long-winded descriptions and overtures between the portions that gave the story direction. Ultimately, you can tell a poet wrote this novel - eloquent, but superfluous.

A brilliant debut!

Thank you to HarperVia and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this beautiful digital arc

Profound. Heartbreaking. Beautiful. Scatterlings is an exceptional story. Thought provoking and beautiful .It is a slow start though, but once the story unfolds, the beginning makes perfect sense.

This is a great, important story and it's well-told for most of its likely readers but the style grated me, personally--in its mix of formality and studied replication of some of the tropes found in oral retellings. I have the same problem with many other novels that others love--Ishiguro's "The Buried Giant" comes to mind--and so I think I'm a poor person to offer a review in this case.

“Scatterlings” is a lyrical story of identity, family, and loss. The writing style is slightly old-fashioned and evokes a different time— appropriate, because the story takes place in 1927.

I enjoyed “Scatterlings.” Though I lived in South Africa (long ago now), I did not know much about the Immorality Act. This book is less historical fiction and more a study of humanity and identity in a time of grave injustice.

In many aspects, this book reminded me of “Wide Sargasso Sea,” a book I also recently enjoyed. I look forward to seeing more from this author.

2.5/5 This book was hard to complete, not because of the subject matter, but due to the writing style. The narrative was often obscured by what seemed like a need to over-intellectualize aspects of the background that did little to compliment the characters or move the plot foreward. So much time was spent trying to spin a tale of Africa as a place of legend and lore, that the people portrayed as living there felt like shadows instead of humans. Not to mention that the myths recounted often seemed randomly placed and incomplete. The plot plodded on to seemingly nowhere and nearly all of the characters spoke/thought in such a highly affected and stilted manner that it made reading this feel like a chore. Surprisingly, the native characters came off as the least authentic in all of it.

A truly beautiiful tale of love, loss and belonging. BramaWhite man who has lived in South Africa for many years marries Alisa a Black woman who was born in Jamaica but raised in England by White adoptive parents. Theit marriage is scarred by societal nirms and eventually threatened by a law outlwing miscegenation. The characters struggle to survive and glimpse the realities of the indigenous people are fleshed out with touches of poetry and spiritualty. A truly thought provoking read.

This story takes place during the time the South African government passed the immorality act, which made relationships between interracial couples illegal. Abram and Alisa are already married when this occurs and they have a biracial child. This sets off a series of events that makes this historical fiction both beautiful and terrifying. Some may find the writing style a bit rigid, but I ultimately found it to be beautiful. This tale brings to light many issues surrounding race, love, and acceptance. The author also lets the audience travel across many landscapes and places that ultimately make this novel a must read.

A thoughtful, gorgeously-written exploration of belonging and the stories we all carry. Drenched in tragedy on so many levels -- Manenzhe moves between several characters' POVs, touching on their invidivdual traumas and how those are reflected in the larger violence inflicted on Africa by colonialism and slavery. It doesn't shy away from the depth of those traumas (the main event of the novel is a tragedy brought about by that trauma), and I'm glad it didn't. The Immorality Laws that set off the main action were so painful, so violent and dehumanizing, but the power of focusing on just a few stories is that Manenzhe can really explore just how horrific those laws were. And she does, in lovely, poetic writing -- it's especially poignant in the descriptions of Alisa's depression and search for her identity.

At times the novel felt a bit too disjointed, and I thought it lingered on a specific character that would play a large role in the story's ending, but who disappeared after the first half of the novel. The ending is ambiguous, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but here it does feel a bit unfinished.

Overall, an excellent read.

Scatterlings is a beautifully written novel about love, loss, and the unjustifiable repercussions of the immorality act introduced to South Africa in the 1920s. While Rešoketšwe tells this story of tristesse with sweeping and lyrical prose, the reader can get lost in the poetics of the narrative. The theme of the story is interesting - the duality of citizenship and social construct of race, but there wasn’t enough to propel me along. I found myself getting lost in the long-winded descriptions and overtures between the portions that gave the story direction. Ultimately, you can tell a poet wrote this novel - eloquent, but superfluous.

Scatterlings tells the story of how one family was affected by the passing of the Immorality Act in South Africa, which banned interracial relationships. We meet Dido and Emilie first, the mixed race children of Abram and Alisa. Abram is a white man and Alisa is a black woman who was raised in England by adoptive parents. The story examines what it means to belong to a place, to a family, to a tribe, from each character's perspective. The writing is beautiful and the story is heartbreakingly sad. While I appreciated the writing and the premise was interesting, I felt the story was a bit disjointed and I never really connected with it.

This was a tragic, yet beautifully written novel. This was the first time I have read about the Immortality act that was passed in South Africa in 1927. While this story is full of tragedy and heartache the author does a beautiful job of capturing the pain and experience for each person in the family. The description of Alisa's struggle with depression was brilliantly and painfully put into words.
I was worried initially that I would have a hard time following the poetic writing, but im so glad I branched out and read this book!
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Via for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Scatterings
By Resoketswe Martha Manenzhe

This is the story of Alisa, Jamaican born daughter of slaves adopted by English parents, who always felt displaced, twice removed from her ancestral home. On a search for her lost identity in Africa, she marries Abram, a South African farmer, and kindred soul. Together they have two multiracial daughters and a mostly good life. That is, until a further scattering and abandoning of souls sets off her daughter's quest. The Immorality Act of 1927 sends Alisa to a dark place that envelops her. She leaves this world and brings her youngest daughter Emilia with her. They are forever lost into the flames of her dispair. Alisa's surviving daughter Dido lovingly arranges a spiritual ceremony for the souls of her mother and sister. Then she painfully leaves them alone in the ash under the willow tree she has strategically planted for them. A spirit guide directs the departed and lost souls to follow as Dido and her father Abram are forced to abandon their farm. They seek ancestors to the North. The stories in Alisa's journal, and help from Abram and Dido's family memories guides the search, soon to be Dido's alone, for a kindred culture. Your heart will be torn to pieces as Dido tenaciously and heroically breaks through every barrier to guide the collective souls of her family towards the voices of the long lost but familiar dust, ash, and churning winds of her ancestral home. There is a kind of magic in Manenzhe's literary language, and the conclusion will connect you to a deep, raw place in your soul. Scatterlings is a beautifully crafted experience that will open up your spirit. Thank you to Harper via for the ARC through NetGalley. Publish date is 12/13/2022

This is a really well written book. Basically, The author tells the story of an interracial couple who are affected by new laws passed in S. Africa. Underpinning this is a story that spans the globe, from Jamaica to England to Amsterdam, and Russia, finally settling in Africa. It is a tragic story with death of a parent and child. And true to it's title, it is a little bit disjointed, scattered even.
Im not sure if I enjoyed this book or not. There were portions that were very interesting and engaging. and portions that I rather loathed. My greatest disappointment is that the end is essentially a vague bit- not allowing the reader to know if the characters fleeing was successful or not.
That said, the writing is so good- that it made it worth it.

Author and poet Rešoketšwe Manenzhe deserves all the praise heaped on her for this magnificent novel. The writing is so rich, so full of imagery that you are instantly transported to the scenes the author describes. The story begins at the end and winds its way forward, introducing us to Abram, a South African winemaker, his wife, Alisa, and their two young girls.

In 1927, their life is brought into stark conflict with the South African government’s new Immortality Laws. Abram is a Dutch-English white man, his deeply troubled wife, Alisa, is black English (from the West Indies), and their children are biracial, born in a country they aren’t considered citizens of. Abram and Alisa’s marriage has deep fault lines, becoming even more evident as government officials begin targeting them for their ‘illicit’ relationship. Alisa has never felt that she belongs anywhere but thinks that perhaps discovering her African heritage may help her find a connection. Unfortunately, Alisa’s search for identity and connection doesn’t come to fruition as she hoped. This is a profoundly elegant, stirring, and thought-provoking novel. What a gift to the world from this author! Thanks to NetGalley, HarperVia, and the author, for the copy to read and review.

I believe this book originally appeared in the author's home country two years ago. The language in the book flows with beauty and sorrow, capturing the complexity and vastness of the South African countryside while grappling with the legacy of colonialism versus the reality of how hard it can be to be human, to find a home. The book examines what it means to be family, what it means to be friends, and how badly we all want to belong. The characters in the book are all looking for contentedness and I don't believe any of them find it.

The themes in the book range from how feelings change over time to what defines home. From unrequited love to depression, we see the impact of so many variations of human struggle on one man and his daughter as they deal with their own past, their own trauma and the prejudice of twentieth-century colonial Africa.

I would find a sequel to this book compelling, as the daughter, Dido, has incredible wit and wisdom for her youth and will almost certainly have more to share when she matures.

The book often slowed in the middle, primarily because of the melancholic tone. My favorite aspects were the use in the final third of the book excerpts from the mother's quasi-destroyed journal and also the revelation of why the father's best friend, Johannes, had distanced their relationship.