I was so happy to hear that this book was picked for January’s #notyomamasbookclub. After reading If You Want to Make God Laugh––and loving it so much that it became one of my best books of 2019––I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this one. Hum did not disappoint. Set in apartheid South Africa and told through the alternating perspectives of Robin, a ten-year-old white child and Beauty, an older Xhosa woman, the book explores complex questions of race and what it means to be a family. After Robin’s parents are killed and her former maid leaves, Beauty is hired to take care of Robin. All the while, Beauty is searching for her daughter, who disappeared during the Soweto Uprising.

The book is part heartwarming drama and part mystery. The latter keeps the plot moving quickly and made me want to know what happened while the former emphasized the complex characters that Marais created. Much like Laugh, Marais has artfully interrogated the different facets of racial interactions in South Africa, and explored how people are able to transcend these self-imposed boundaries in the name of love. While at times I wanted to shake Robin for her ignorance, it was interesting to see a young girl grapple with racism and its effects on people that she cares about.
I think that Laugh is still my favorite book of Marais work, but Hum satisfied a need for more of her storytelling and was highly enjoyable. I cannot wait to see what else she creates!