Scatterlings

A Novel

By: Resoketswe Martha Manenzhe

Narrated by: Christel Mutombo

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A BEST NEW BOOK from *Vanity Fair *The Root *Vulture *People *The Washington Post *Christian Science Monitor *Los Angeles Times *Essence

A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice Pick! A New Yorker Best Book of the Year!

A lyrical, moving novel in the spirit of Transcendent Kingdom and A Burning—and the most awarded debut title in South Africa—that tells the story of a multiracial family when the Immorality Act is passed, revealing the story of one family’s scattered souls in the wake of history.

In 1927, South Africa passes the Immorality Act, prohibiting sexual intercourse between “Europeans” (white people) and “natives” (Black people). Those who break the draconian new law face imprisonment—for men of up to five years; for women, four years.

Abram and his wife Alisa have their share of marital problems, but they also have a comfortable life in South Africa with their two young girls. But then the Act is passed. Alisa is black, and their two children are now evidence of their involvement in a union that has been criminalized by the state.

At first, Alisa and Abram question how they’ll be affected by the Act, but then officials start asking questions at the girls’ school, and their estate is catalogued for potential disbursement. Abram is at a loss as to how to protect his young family from the grinding machinery of the law, whose worst discriminations have until now been kept at bay by the family’s economic privilege. And with this, his hesitation, the couple’s bond is tattered.

Alisa, who is Jamaican and the descendant of slaves, was adopted by a wealthy white British couple, who raised her as their child. But as she grew older and realized that the prejudices of British society made no allowance for her, she journeyed to South Africa where she met Abram. In the aftermath of the Immorality Act, she comes to a heartbreaking conclusion based on her past and collective history – and she commits her own devastating act, one that will reverberate through their entire family’s lives.

Intertwining her storytelling with ritual, myth, and the heart-wrenching question of who stays and who leaves, Scatterlings marks the debut of a gifted storyteller who has become a sensation in her native South Africa—and promises to take the Western literary world by storm as well.

©2020 Resoketswe Manenzhe (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

So beautiful this should be a poem!

Poignant narration of one woman’s depression - painful though her actions were, as seen through the lens of brutal racism in the 1800s. Worth listening to again and again.

Disjointed, but beautiful narration

I really wanted to like this book and kept hoping it would come together, but for me it was disjointed and difficult to follow from beginning to end. Maybe it just went over my head. I appreciated the parts that delved into the impacts of the Immorality Act, which were heart wrenching, and the narration was beautiful. If this topic is of interest, I highly recommend Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.

Wonderful narration and lyrical prose

The highlights of this book are the poetic prose which is made even better by the entrancing narration. This book is also a great meditation on how we create identities for ourselves. The story itself was a bit more open ended than I would have liked. But overall this was very enjoyable.

Wonderful

I loved both the writing and the narration. I look forward to hearing more from both the author and narrator

Interesting but sad and hard to read at times

This was an interesting topic and setting but the story was not as good as I had hoped.

Tragic

This multi-generational thoughtful book full of entertaining stories and tragedy took me a while to get immersed, but I did by the end. Later, I had thoughts about the lives of those mentioned throughout Scatterlings.

Beautiful and Powerful

Thank you for this beautiful and heartbreaking story of an era and land that I hope to visit someday.

The Bad Old Days

The Bad Old Days

A realistic novel about the insane racial laws of South Africa during the 20th century, and their effects on succeeding generations.

Narration is excellent.

Outstanding!!

Beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking story of a mixed race family in South Africa torn apart when the 1927 Immorality Act is passed.

Loved this book

Thank you for this nugget of learning and wisdom. The author weaves a wonderful story referencing the Immorality Act of 1927 to remind us the inequity in the treatment of persons based on their race (white versus non-white) and the pressures for all to conform according to this law.