Fiction, General Fiction
The Water Dancer

The Water Dancer

Paperback Published on: 19/11/2020
£9.99
16 reviews
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Bookseller Reviews

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The Water Dancer
Epic and devastating novel .....
“The Water Dancer” is the debut novel from a journalist and award winning author who is considered one of the leading voices of racial politics in America.... READ MORE
Emine at Bromley
The Water Dancer
Powerful slavery narrative with a speculative twist
Following in the footsteps of Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison and Colson Whitehead, Ta-Nehisi Coates has crafted a poignant and powerful examination of slave... READ MORE
Laura at Harrogate
The Water Dancer
A Wonder
I finished this last night and sat up for hours turning it over and over in my head, as the sheer depth and craft of it continued to reveal itself. This is... READ MORE
John - Glasgow Braehead
The Water Dancer
Powerful and searingly truthful .What is true freedom?
This is a powerful story of Hiram's bid for freedom from slavery. Hiram is the son of a slave and a slave owner in Virginia. His role changes as he "looks... READ MORE
Tracey McHardy
The Water Dancer
A memorable first novel.
I was aware of Ta-Nehisi Coates Non-Fiction and the stellar reviews for Between the World and Me and We Were Eight Years in Power so was very grateful to b... READ MORE
Paul Sheffield Meadowhall
The Water Dancer
The Power of Stories
I absolutely adored this story of Hiram, who grows up a slave on a Virginia plantation, and discovers that he has a strange power. This is a book about th... READ MORE
Megan at Morpeth
The Water Dancer
USA's Darkest Time
Ultimately set during the time where the southern states of the USA were split between those who still enslaved and those whites who thought it was wrong. ... READ MORE
ENEFCEE 1956
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A debut novel from acclaimed essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates, which follows the young slave Hiram as he flees from a Virginia plantation and becomes an agent of the underground railroad. Coates dips his toes into magical realism, giving his protagonist the supernatural gift of 'conduction', the power to transport fellow slaves thousands of miles in a single instant, carrying them out of the Deep South and into freedom. The world evoked is one of crumbling grandeur, in which the masters are sometimes capriciously cruel and always conspicuously idle.

Synopsis

The unmissable debut novel by the critically acclaimed author of Between the World and Me and We Were Eight Years in Power - a richly imagined and compulsively page-turning journey to freedom.

Hiram Walker is a man with a secret, and a war to win. A war for the right to life, to family, to freedom.

Born into bondage on a Virginia plantation, he is also born gifted with a mysterious power that he won't discover until he is almost a man, when he risks everything for a chance to escape. One fateful decision will carry him away from his makeshift plantation family and into the heart of the underground war on slavery...

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
  • ISBN: 9780241982518
  • Number of pages: 416
  • Dimensions: 197 x 130 x 25 mm
  • Weight: 285g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Water Dancer
A remarkable read
What a remarkable read, one that I've heard such a lot about, and rightly so. Hiram is one of the Tasked, a slave, son to a white man, on whose property h... READ MORE
Lucy Williams
The Water Dancer
Great book
But why did the Guardian reviewer have to go and spoil it by giving the main character's "secret"? This spoilt the book for me
Linda Jones
The Water Dancer
A triumph
It took me a little while to really connect with this book, but once I did, I absolutely loved it. I became fully invested in the life of Hiram, and his st... READ MORE
Louise Barber
The Water Dancer
A magical-realist portrayal of slavery and emancipation
The Water Dancer is the story of Hiram, a slave with a complicated status. He is the son of one of the “Tasked”, the slave Rose, and the master of a tobacc... READ MORE
JenJ
The Water Dancer
Makes you believe in the magic in mortals to heal our world....
I always mean to write a review, for past books read, and just fail to get round to it. This however, I had to somehow put some time aside for. I’ve read ... READ MORE
Charini Samaraweera
The Water Dancer
Great social commentators don’t necessarily make great novelists...
Great social commentators don’t necessarily make great novelists, no matter how powerful their writing and insight. Ta-Nehisi Coates is an accomplished wri... READ MORE
Lesley Jane
The Water Dancer
Stunning Faction
I received an ARC copy of this book via net galley in exchange for an honest review. I have read some of this author's non fiction and found something to l... READ MORE
marie riley
The Water Dancer
The story is utterly heartbreaking but none the less has a huge impact and it is an important tale to tell.
'The Water Dancer' is the first work of fiction by American author and journalist, Ta-Nehisi Coates. There has been a huge amount of discussion about this ... READ MORE
Maria's Book Musings