The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Elm County, Virginia

Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of my favorite authors of all time. Between the World and Me is nothing short of art, and We Were Eight Years in Power is an excellent collection of essays. So I was so excited when Coates wrote his first fiction piece. This novel is quite good, but I don't think it stands up to his nonfiction pieces.

The story centers around Hiram Walker, an enslaved man with extraordinary gifts of memory and comprehension. As the book progresses, we learn that he also has other, more mystical powers called "conduction." Through the power of story and memory, those bestowed with conduction can transport themselves and others long distances in a matter of minutes.

This novel taught me something new about the Antebellum South, particularly in Virginia. English settlers did not focus on conservation methods on agricultural (or any) land, so much of the farmland in the area had been depleted. Plantations and slavery were dying in Virginia before the Civil War began. This affected the characters in the Water Dancer because they lived in fear of their plantation going under and their families being separated. Coates also described the erosion of high society in Virginia and how the once "honorable" white folk were gambling, looting, etc.

The novel becomes a little disjointed in parts, especially when the mystical elements enter. The majority of the book is almost a historical fiction with some mysterious elements sprinkled in. The introduction of conduction serves as an excellent metaphor for the power of memory, personal history, and story-telling, but it doesn't quite fit with the tone of the rest of the novel. Also, there is a lack of character development throughout the novel. In particular, Sofia. Hiram and her have only a few conversations together and then he is risking his life to escape with her. Then when he is able to escape and she is not, he is telling other people he would risk everything to go save her. Coates attempts to give Sofia a decent personality, as she is never afraid to speak her mind to Hiram, but her lack of detail and backstory leaves her as a hollow, damsel-in-distress-like love interest.

It is fairly obvious that this is Coates' first work of fiction, but I think most readers will enjoy the book as they read it. However, if I were going to introduce someone to the works of Ta-Nehisi Coates, this would not be the book I would recommend to them first.

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 4/5

Writing: 5/5

Plot: 3/5

Character Development: 2/5

Message: 5/5

Challenges Satisfied:

Virginia (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)

Book about Black Experiences (Diversity Challenge)

Historical Fiction (Genre Challenge)