All Your Children, Scattered
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
FINALIST FOR THE 2023 FRENCH-AMERICAN FOUNDATION TRANSLATION PRIZE
WINNER OF THE PRIX ÉTHIOPHILE, THE PRIX DES RACINES ET DES MOTS, AND THE PRIX DES CINQ CONTINENTS DE LA FRANCOPHONIE
Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse’s debut novel follows three generations torn apart by the genocide against the Tutsis, as they try to reconnect with one another, rebuild broken relationships, and find their place in today’s world.
Blanche returns to Rwanda after building a life in Bordeaux with her husband and young son, Stokely. Reuniting with her mother Immaculata, old wounds are reopened for both mother and daughter while Stokely, caught between two countries, tries to understand where he comes from and where he belongs.
“This story tells all our stories.”—Gaël Faye, author of Small Country
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Genocide and war are massively difficult topics to cover in a novel, but Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse’s poetic debut succeeds. In All Your Children, Scattered, three generations of a Franco-Rwandan family negotiate their place in the world following the 1990s Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis. Mairesse introduces us to Immaculata; her daughter, Blanche; and Blanche’s son, Stokely, using each family member’s story to explore penetrating questions of identity, race, and color. From the vivid image of a purple jacaranda tree to the brutal wounds of Rwanda’s colonial history, this moving book stuck with us long after we finished reading it. Full of sensitivity, wisdom, and heart, this is a powerful story of fraught family relationships and returning home after displacement.
