Insinuating dialogue, delivered with eloquent Southern reserve, and hostile eruptions between the Walker household and the Confederates explore the flip side of silence.Ĭelebrating all manner of relationships that combat hate, this novel is a hopeful glimpse into the long legacy of American racial and civil tensions.Following Brown’s advice, Harris-then an undergraduate English major-concentrated instead on the sweeping tale that was almost writing itself in his head: a Civil War-era story of slave brothers at the moment of the Emancipation Proclamation, an expansive account that pulled Harris into exploring the deep waters of race and racism, power, love, and homosexuality. Harris draws readers into this sense of longing by exploring silences: George’s meditative hunts, Landry’s muteness, Caleb’s hidden trysts, Prentiss’ pent-up anger and Isabelle’s secluded mourning. On and on, just like life.” George, too, is driven by something he can’t capture he searches for the elusive source of his restlessness, represented by a mythical beast he’s sure abides in the forest.

To him the fountain conveys majesty and magic, comfort and joy, “something mysterious and fine. Landry is continually drawn to and inspired by a stone fountain on the plantation from which he escaped. Caleb and Prentiss both love people they can’t have. There is a shared longing at the heart of Harris’ novel. A fiery standoff ensues, after which Isabelle emerges as a quiet heroine pursuing ideals of friendship, liberty and justice.ĪLSO IN BOOKPAGE: For the audiobook edition, William DeMeritt performs with such skill that the listener will be able to envision Nathan Harris’ character’s faces just by the way their voices sound. As a deserter, Caleb gives the town one more reason to dislike the Walkers. Work on the farm is well underway when the Walkers’ son, Caleb, unexpectedly returns from war. George’s wife, Isabelle, expects his interest in the brothers to wane, like it has toward all his other ventures. George invites the brothers to join him as paid laborers on his Georgia peanut farm, which incites the ire of his rural neighbors. Nathan Harris’ Civil War-set debut novel, The Sweetness of Water, paints a timeless portrait of warring factions seeking peace.Īs the novel opens, white landowner George Walker encounters brothers Landry and Prentiss, recently freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, on the outreaches of his property.

The sweetness of water nathan harris