Take a photo of a barcode or cover
jennystoorad 's review for:
The Sweetness of Water
by Nathan Harris
A tragic, character-driven narrative about two brothers (former slaves) attempting to forge a new life of freedom, with a shared history of trauma and abuse that's never far from their memories. Prentiss is eager to put some distance between himself and the Georgian town of his youth but his brother, Landry, is finding such peace in the woods and lakes that he's never had the luxury to explore, so they'll stay on for just a bit longer. (Which, of course, develops into a horrific outcome)
There's a temptation to characterize a small-minded, bigoted Southern town as a cliche, as other reviewers have - but it's not that simple. The foundational culture of the Southern states heavily relied on their continued control and domination of slave labor. The fear of losing their free workforce, the ensuing financial struggle to pay enough workers to maintain a profitable venture, the seething rage at being forced to make such changes by outsiders - these are not cliches; this was reality. And it made for brutally dangerous interactions and still does.
If a reader only sees this as historical fiction, they're missing half the point. In many ways, things haven't changed enough. This fear and rage are still very much alive. Don't let yourself complacently focus on "how it was back then" or you've missed the power of it. This isn't the past - this is perhaps an origin story - that is still being written today.
There's a temptation to characterize a small-minded, bigoted Southern town as a cliche, as other reviewers have - but it's not that simple. The foundational culture of the Southern states heavily relied on their continued control and domination of slave labor. The fear of losing their free workforce, the ensuing financial struggle to pay enough workers to maintain a profitable venture, the seething rage at being forced to make such changes by outsiders - these are not cliches; this was reality. And it made for brutally dangerous interactions and still does.
If a reader only sees this as historical fiction, they're missing half the point. In many ways, things haven't changed enough. This fear and rage are still very much alive. Don't let yourself complacently focus on "how it was back then" or you've missed the power of it. This isn't the past - this is perhaps an origin story - that is still being written today.