Review: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Published: September 2019
 

Hiram Walker was born into slavery. He doesn't remember much about his mother except that she was taken from him at a very young age. Hiram was born with special gifts, that he discovers when his life is in danger. Will he have to continue to live a life of slavery, or will he find a way out of his situation and find out what happened to his mother.

When I picked this title as my Book of the Month selection, I was very excited to read it. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction so I haven't read any of Ta-Nehisi's other books. I did try, Between the World and Me, but it never really grabbed my attention.

From the start I was engrossed in The Water Dancer. I loved the way the story was being told. Shortly through, though I found myself getting lost in the words and having to go back and read passages. This happened several times throughout the book and I found myself wanting to put it down and give up on it, but I stuck with it and overall it wasn't too bad. I'm giving it 3.5 stars for all of the stopping and rereading I had to do.

This was definitely a new take on the story of the Underground Railroad. We even have the opportunity to meet Harriet Tubman in this book. After finishing the book, we watched the movie Harriet that my daughter has been wanting to see since it was released. There were a lot of things in the movie, that I recall from the book and that made the book a little more interesting after the fact. Weaving actual truth into the story makes it a little better for me.

The story takes you on a journey through Hiram Walker's life, from his time living and working on the plantation, to when he is able to move into the big house where his father, the master lives. We see him grieve for several members of his community, but none more than the mother he can't remember, even though he is often put on display for his memory.

If you're struggling through the book, I say stick with it, it is worth it in the end.

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