Publication Date June 15, 2021
Nathan Harris has written an amazing debut novel. The Sweetness of Water is set in a fictional Georgia town during the Reconstruction period just after the Civil War ended, with the main characters being a land-owning family and two brothers, recently freed from the neighboring plantation.
George and Isabelle Walker are devastated by news that their son, Caleb, has apparently died in battle near the end of the War. George is a transplanted northener whose life plan seems to be to sell off his land a little at a time to finance a quiet life for him and his wife Isabelle, a woman who has developed the best possible attitude toward marriage and life on the “farm.” Prentiss and Landry, the two brothers who meet George on one of his rambling walks and end up living in the Walkers’ barn, go from slavery to being paid actual wages for the work George assigns them. Things go semi-smoothly for awhile until Caleb shows up, very much alive despite being disgraced for his behavior in battle. George decides to convert his land to a peanut farm with the help of his son and the brothers — which doesn’t sit well with either local plantation owners or returned Confederate soldiers, all of whom are classic bad guys both in their attitudes and behaviors.
Caleb has a secret illicit affair to add to his shame as a coward. As the story unfolds, it’s clear that there are several potentials for disaster, and essentially all of them happen in ways that require the characters to choose whether or not to do the right thing. All the characters are incredibly developed as they deal with various themes and situations including white supremacy, racism, misogny, homosexuality, and the meaning of love, marriage, and family.
Despite (or possibly due to) its selection as an Oprah Book Club pick, I wasn’t wild at the prospect of reading this when I received a copy from Little, Brown and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. But its place on the longlist for the Booker Prize and its recommendation on Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List prompted me to pick it up.
It is so good! Better even than I expected (I have always found something to treasure among Obama’s recommendations). The story moves along, with tension building relentlessly. It was so gripping I kept having to put it down…and then I didn’t want it to end. So many of the characters had to find courage despite the repercussions they KNEW would follow. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! Five gigantic stars. Great for book clubs, fans of historical fiction, or really anyone who is “looking for a good book to read”!!!