Nathan Harris – The Sweetness of Water
A New York Times Bestseller, Nathan Harris’ The Sweetness of Water is a lyrical and powerful début novel. The story follows brothers, Landry and Prentiss, born into slavery and freed as the American Civil War ends. The brothers are penniless and their only hope is to find work in a society that still views them as nothing. Farmer George Walker and his wife Isabelle, who are reeling from their own loss, agree to employ the brothers after a chance encounter, and a slow, tentative bond between these two groups of strangers begins to blossom. Their sanctuary survives on a knife-edge though, and it isn’t long before a tragedy causes the inhabitants of a nearby town to view their friendship with suspicion, resulting in devastating consequences.