nathan harris the sweetness of water review

Landry and Prentiss are two brothers born into slavery, finally freed as the American Civil War draws to its bitter close. 'A fine, lyrical novel, impressive in its complex interweaving of the grand and the intimate, of the personal and political ' Observer in his unsparing examination of both hatred and deep love, Harris will win over the hearts of many readers.A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND BARACK OBAMA SUMMER READING 2021 SELECTION Readers will often forget that this is a debut novel one of Harris's greatest gifts, aside from those beautifully wrought sentences, is his empathy, his ability to slip inside the skins of these men and women.

'In the right hands, historical fiction can often capture the truth of our own times more successfully than many contemporary attempts. We were incredibly impressed by the way it probes themes of trans-historical importance - about race, sexuality, violence and grief - through meticulously-drawn characters and a patient examination of their relationships.' ― The Booker Prize Judges 'This debut novel astonished us as much for its wise, lyrical voice as for its dense realisation of a fictional small town in the American South at a rarely written about moment. In presenting two narratives largely overlooked in traditional renderings of the war, Harris breathes new life into a period of history whose stories have grown stale with overtelling.' ― Observer 'The Sweetness of Water is a fine, lyrical novel, impressive at the level of the sentence, and in its complex interweaving of the grand and the intimate, of the personal and political. After a chance encounter, they agree to employ the brothers on their land, and slowly the tentative bonds of trust begin to blossom between the strangers.īut this sanctuary survives on a knife's edge, and it isn't long before a tragedy causes the inhabitants of the nearby town to turn their suspicion onto these new friendships, with devastating consequences. Cast into the world without a penny to their names, their only hope is to find work in a society that still views them with nothing but intolerance.įarmer George Walker and his wife Isabelle are reeling from a loss that has shaken them to their core.

Nathan harris the sweetness of water review