The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024--San Antonio

The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris was longlisted for the Booker Prize, has won other prizes, and has many very positive reviews from prominent sources.  It's a story that takes place in a small town in Georgia just after emancipation and during and after the final weeks of the Civil War.  The largest landowner in the area is the son of a northerner who came to the area and bought up a huge area of land.  The wealthiest and most prominent citizen in town is a man who does what he wants without worrying about whether it is against the law or not and considers it is his right to do so.  The sons of these two men are best friends who have been together throughout the war with "privileged" assignments to keep them safe due to the influential efforts of the wealthy townsman.  The book covers the difficulties of the changes of that time--many men not coming back from the war, plantation owners not wanting to accept that their paid-for slaves are no longer their own property and requiring salaries if they stay while having the right to leave if they want, accepting the temporary assignment of northern officers and soldiers to the towns to work with law enforcement followed by the arrival of the more strict reconstruction groups eventually sent in to take control, the resentment of local white citizens for what has happened and their retaliations including unjustified beatings and killings toward any black citizens who they feel have wronged them, etc.  But it is also a book about families--families trying to protect their own (sometimes in justifiable ways, but sometimes through cover-ups and the silencing of those who might bring harm to them), squabbles within families, etc.  Although there are many points of major tension that make it hard to go to the next page, it is really a very enjoyable book.  I gave it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.