The Sweetness of Water
Thursday, March 2 | 2:00pm | Woman's Club Room
by Nathan Harris
Presented by David and Stephanie Williams
This stunning debut novel by young American novelist Harris was published in 2021 to great acclaim. A work of historical fiction, it takes place just after the end of the Civil War in the small town of Old Ox, Georgia. Brothers Prentiss and Landry, freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, seek temporary refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of their only son to the war, hire the brothers to work their farm, forging an unexpected friendship. Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two young Confederate soldiers recently returned to Old Ox, who hold their trysts in the woods. When their secret is discovered it unleashes convulsive repercussions on the entire community. In the midst of so much turmoil it is Isabelle who emerges as an unlikely leader. Depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstruction, “The Sweetness of Water” is an epic portraying humanity and love undaunted by the most harrowing circumstances.
