Description

“Timeless, vivid and utterly essential.” Fergal Keane, author of The Madness

AN AWARD WINNING NOVEL FOLLOWING THREE GENERATIONS TORN APART BY THE TUTSI GENOCIDE

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.

Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse’s unforgettable debut novel follows three generations torn apart by the genocide against the Tutsis, as they try to reconnect with one another, rebuild broken links and find their place in today’s world.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING

“Beautiful and breath-taking.” Lizzy on Netgalley

“This is a book to read and re-read.” Jo Ann on Goodreads

“This book was intense and filled me with emotion… Truly memorable and lyrical.” Rachel on Netgalley

“Raw, heartfelt and full of pain [with] so many poetic and spine tingling quotes.” Sharmila on Netgalley

“A literary feat through and through.” Thomas on Goodreads

“I just can’t recommend it enough.” Kacey on Netgalley

“A beautiful and heartbreaking book.” Elizabeth on Goodreads

Publisher Review

"Three generations of a family torn apart by the Tutsi genocide try to reconnect with their homeland and each other." * The New York Times * "Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse is a writer of immense gifts and her novel has moved me to my core. Read it and meet and purveyor of human truths that are timeless, vivid and utterly essential." * Fergal Keane, author of The Madness * "Beata Umbubyeyi Mairesse writes in beautiful language of, often, terrible things, which is precisely what gives All Your Children, Scattered so much of its power. War has a long tail, and its impact does not end when the fighting is over. The world of Blanche, Immaculata and Stokley pulls you in and spins you around. Deftly told and beautifully written, this is a story that kept me engrossed to the end." * Aminatta Forna, author of Happiness * "Precise and poetic; profound and profoundly human, All Your Children, Scattered plumbs the depths of history's silences, and of its victims." * Jakuta Alikavazovich, author of Night as it Falls * "This story tells all our stories." * Gael Faye, author of Small Country * "This book touched me as it affirms a great faith in literature: that what we think we can no longer say, we can attempt to write. Between silence and the quest for new words, one must find a language: Beata's is true without being coarse, reserved without hiding details of the events and the emotions they arouse." * Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Prix Goncourt winner * "Beautifully wrought and utterly compelling." * Lisa Appignanesi * "[All Your Children, Scattered] tenderly unfurls the pain of generations, without flinching from the complex legacy of colonization and war. " * Booklist * "This first novel has the feel of a breakthrough, a transcendence." * The Brooklyn Rail * "A brief but powerful novel about the weight of silence and the intergenerational nature of trauma, and despite the weight of its subject matter, there is a light at its center. In opening up these various narratives, Mairesse's work acts as a reminder that even if the past cannot be restored, silence does not have the last word." * Asymptote Journal * "A dazzling rainbow." * Jeune Afrique * "Splendid." * ELLE (France) * "Magnificent." * Le Monde * "A poetic account of the strength of women." * Cheek Magazine *