The Sweetness of Water By Nathan Harris
Reviewed by Michael Attard
The setting is rural Georgia, USA, shortly after the end of the American Civil War in 1865. It is supposed to be a time of reconstruction, but military victory and defeat, great loss of life, and wounds of war have not established a new and better way of life. Old manners of thinking have deep roots.
George Walker, a man past his prime, was perceived by his peers and family members as not very industrious, somewhat antisocial, and an outsider. When he hires two black men, freed men, and pays them a white man’s wage, the reaction of the community is hostile. But this is not the only problem for George. He carries a burden with him from the time of slavery, even though the situation was beyond his control. George is a rational man not prone to imagination, and yet he believes that there is a large beast living on his land, although he has only ever caught a glimpse of it. It becomes clear to the reader that the beast is a metaphor for all that haunts him.
The relationship with his wife Isabelle is civil at best. “It was a mutual passion for independence that had brought them together in the first place.” Isabelle is stoically accepting of her life, and it will be she who ensures her family’s legacy.
Caleb is George and Isabelle’s only child. Given up for dead, he very unexpectantly returns, surrounded by rumors of cowardice. Father and son are much alike. Meek, mild, and certainly not looking for trouble. The two freed black men are brothers. Their father had died, and their mother had been sold away many years before. Their dream, no matter how far-fetched they knew it to be, was to find their mother. The brothers, born as slaves into a white man’s world, understood the fragility of their freedom. “And it grew clear that the only path to a life worth living would be found elsewhere, where they might not have more but could not possibly have less.”
These are the protagonists. They are searching for lives of their own, not threatened by the prejudices and violence of others. But the antagonists with their wealth, tradition, and power, have the upper hand. A violent murder is declared an accident and justice an impossibility. Personal retribution is just as unlikely.
Before the murder, there were signs that there was more to George than met the eye. In a confrontation with the two freed men’s former owner, George stood his ground – so much so, that even Isabelle was surprised. “Was it bravery George had shown? Or just his typical naivete?” An old friend of George’s father thinks that he knows what is driving George, and strongly advises him. “[Those men], let them go. … I can only gather that old age has led you to philanthropy. To make right whatever wrongs your heart holds in.”
In the topsy-turvy world of white supremacy, the meek and innocent become the accused and hunted. At the time of the murder, Caleb’s fearfulness and timidity render him helpless to intervene. “Caleb squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears from the sound of the vicious thuds. … He sat … waiting hopelessly for the barbarity to end.”
But this is a story of people releasing themselves from the torpor which has handcuffed them throughout their lives. There is a commitment made to bold action which will lead to at least a partial redemption of moral character. As such, there are no real heroes in this story, but there is a psychological appeasement, allowing for acceptance. For George, the climax peaks while he is in a state of physical and mental exhaustion. “… and then a shadow moved, … the thing before him was unmistakably there, … the beast … was double his size …. George thought his heart might burst in ecstasy.”
The broken pieces of the characters’ lives will never be put back together. Isabelle is alone. She was feeling the “ultimate defeat. A defeat no mother could ever conquer.” But her work was not finished. She chose a spot for a fountain to be constructed. And most importantly, this fountain, “would not quit…. That it run without ceasing in all weather, in all seasons, and that it endure.” The sweetness of the fountain’s water would symbolize the flow of life, and with it, the eternity of hope.
The Sweetness of Water is the first book written by Nathan Harris. The 30 chapters are easy to read and move the reader back and forth from character to character. The use of description is vivid but never overdone. “The large red oaks and walnut trees that surrounded his home could dim the sun into nothing more than a soft flicker in the sky passing between their branches.” There is plenty of dialogue, and it always sounds natural and to the point. The recurrent use of simile continuously highlights the scenes and encounters. In speaking of the freed men’s clothes, he says that they wore “… shirts so thin they might crumble like burnt toast if given a rub.”
The author has captured a specific time and place in history. There are no embellishments to make the story more than it is. The characters do not stand out from a crowd in any way. Yet their actions shine as a reminder that belief in eternal hope is worth the pursuit.
The Reviewer
Michael Attard is a Canadian who has lived in Gwangju since 2004. Though officially retired, he still teaches a few private English classes. He enjoys reading all kinds of books and writes for fun. When the weather is nice, you may find him on a hiking trail.