If you want to follow along with Oprah's discussions on each of her book club picks, head over to on Instagram or Facebook. Equal parts beauty and terror, as gripping as it is moving, The Sweetness of Water is an epic whose grandeur locates humanity and love amid the most harrowing circumstances. I rooted for them, and feared for them too.' With candor and sympathy, debut novelist Nathan Harris creates an unforgettable cast of characters, depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstruction. When she first announced the selection of the book, Oprah said: 'As I read this masterful novel, I kept thinking-this young 29-year-old is a first-time author, so how did he do this?' She continued, 'As the best writers can do, Nathan takes us back in time, and helps us to feel we are right there with Prentiss and Landry as they get their first taste of freedom.

Set in the fictional town of Old Ox, Georgia at the very end of the Civil War, Harris's powerful first novel centers on brothers Prentiss and Landry, who are at last leaving the plantation where they've spent their entire lives, and grappling with what will come next. In an exclusive clip from the episode, which you can watch above, Harris details how imagining himself in that aforementioned cafeteria-standing before a table filled with Toni Morrison, James McBride, and others-helped him shape a singular story that those formative authors hadn't heard before.Īpple TV+ subscribers can watch the full episode of Oprah’s Book Club for free starting Friday, July 23, on Apple TV+ at /-oprahbookclub. Harris’ first novel is an aching chronicle of loss, cruelty, and love in the wake of community devastation.Now, in an enlightening interview for the latest episode of Apple TV+'s Oprah's Book Club, Oprah will sit down with Harris to discuss the book, along with some of his literary influences. Reconstruction will prove to be yet another lie. Prentiss and Landry are technically free, but they remain trapped by a lifetime of blighted hopes and broken promises. Harris’ lucid prose and vivid characterization illustrate a community at war with itself, poisoned by pride and mired in racial and sexual bigotry. A climactic revelation in the woods on a dark night throws the entire community into chaos, pitting neighbor against neighbor and father against son, suggesting that the war has not actually ended. As the summer advances, secrets and hidden desires come to light, some as sweet as Isabelle’s peach preserves, others bitter and terrifying. Their connection to the Walkers bemuses and disgusts other white residents, especially the aristocratic Weblers, whose son, August, had been Caleb’s best friend. George and Isabelle Walker, mourning their son Caleb’s death in the war, take in Prentiss and Landry, two young brothers formerly enslaved on the neighboring plantation, who dream of reconnecting with their mother, who was long ago sold away.

Near Old Ox, Georgia, resentful whites grieve their loss and formerly enslaved Blacks tentatively, hopefully turn their eyes towards freedom.

Review the sweetness of water