Unfortunately I did not finish this novel. Although I have previously loved books with a supernatural element like Beloved by Toni Morrison or Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward, I could not get a grip on this one. The quality was there, but I couldn’t get into it, so I quit at 33%. Very likely I am the problem, not the book.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The Water Dancer byTa-Nehisi Coates is a book of contradictions: a book beautifully written about a shameful time in history.

Hiram is taken away from his mother as a child when she is sold to another owner. When his feats of memory are recognised by his owner/ father, he is taken in to the big house and educated. As he gets older, all Hiram wants is to be free to choose his own life and to have his own family.

When Hiram runs away, he eventually finds himself involved with the Underground Railway. And that is where he learns to control his ability to “conduct” himself to different places to help people.

I love magical realism and the way it makes us think about the way the world works in reality, as opposed to how we’d all like it to work. Hiram’s ability to conduct himself immediately to another place takes all the risk out of capture, the miles of struggle and needing to stay hidden. Of course, Hiram only gets to this stage after he experiences the trauma and inhumanity of being caught by the slave catchers himself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this - I listened on audiobook, and the narrator Joe Morton was amazing. Especially his singing - his voice just brought the characters to life.

A fabulous novel.

Hiram Walker is a 20 year old black man trapped in the slavery system of dying Old Virginia. He is also the acknowledged son of the plantation owner, and has a photographic memory. As he grows, his education, the love from his family from the Warrens and the Street and something intangible which he can't quite pin down coalesce and spark in him the need to find his freedom and fight the oppression he has been raised under.
Finding his way to the Underground, Hiram discovers that he may have an ability that will enable him to find freedom for himself and those he loves.
I adored the Water Dancer. I wish I'd read it years ago when it first came out. The pain and atrocities committed by the slave trade are emotionally wrought alongside the maturing of an intelligent and kind young man who has had everything stripped from him, but finds his own salvation in the old skills of his people.

Just a fantastic piece of literary fiction and I absolutely loved it. So compelling and such incredible prose.

This is an utterly unique book; I have never read anything like it. Part historical fiction, part magical realism and part romance, it merges genres like no other work of fiction I have come across. I thought it was beautifully written and cleverly crafted, however it didn't hold my attention or keep me gripped or turning the pages compulsively. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it.
With grateful thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book - the premise is so interesting and it very beautifully and lyrically written. For some reason though, I found it incredibly difficult to break through a barrier with it, and found reading it quite long

There were definitely things that drew me to it and kept me reading. I loved the imagery of the protagonist's relationship with water, running through his heritage and memory of his mother - intertwining his past with his future in a very mythical way. I also loved the characters, including some particularly memorable strong and complex female characters.

I think my trouble was with the plot - I found a lot of the story quite difficult to follow. I'm not sure why, as recalling it now it doesn't seem complicated, but it just didn't flow for me at the time of reading.

I will remember this novel and loved parts of it. Ultimately though, I couldn't connect all the different parts of it - perhaps I wasn't in the right space for it.

This is such a powerful book. The way in which the author is able to write so compellingly about the historical and the magical with equal skill, is astounding. Imaginative, beautifully written, almost lyrical in places, the prose flows effortlessly, and characters are written with authenticity and heart.

As a white woman, I cannot possibly understand the complex ramifications of slavery, of the legacy of such a horrific time in history. Literature and film can often be the most evocative ways to show this history. Coates’ skill is in using his wonderful imagination, his beautiful prose, to make this supernatural tale historically significant.

Hiram is so complex, so well-written, he is a compelling narrator. There are moments that are terrifying, moments that are full of hope, of love, moments that are so frustrating and infuriating. And the magic, the supernatural, feels seamless, such a natural part of Hiram and such a natural part of the narrative.

The historic details add a further layer and there are stories within this story that are astounding to read.

An absolutely brilliant novel.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-galley from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars... I think.

Okay. I'm a big fan of Coates's non-fiction - Between the World and Me is a goddamn work of art - so I was super excited to read his first novel. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed.

Like many other reviewers I've seen I was initially captivated by the poetic writing, but as I got further into the book it felt impenetrable - there's interesting ideas in this book but I felt like I was kept from a distance from the plot and characters. This might have worked in a shorter book, but at 400+ pages it just became a slog.

Maybe I just need to be in a better headspace. I wouldn't rule out picking it up again, but for now I'm just... Relieved it's over.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“I was young and love to me was a fuse that was lit, not a garden that was grown”

“Ain’t no freedom for a woman in trading a white man for a coloured.”

“Were I to tell you the evils of slavery … I should wish to take you one at a time and whisper them to you” William Wells Brown

This is a really hard book to review. Because I loved it, because it is a long journey of discovery and liberation, and because I don’t want to spoil it for you by giving away anything at all in the story.

I’ve read books about slavery before and I‘ve seen films but I have never felt so deeply drawn in to understanding both the casual evil and normality of the slave system and the super human strength love and wisdom of the survivors.

I loved every word. The enormity of the evil that was done is so hard to face up to and I understand totally the need for magic, the seemingly fantastical episodes that hold the hope for humanity.

Beautifully written, in spite of the horrors, this book is a prayer for humanity and a call for us all to work through our personal shadows so that we can be part of the healing.

I love Ta-Nehisi Coates' non fiction but couldn't feel the same about this novel. The magic realist elements were jarring and took me out of the book however beautifully written it was.

An excellent read, slave stories from actual stories woven into an intriguing novel, for the full review go to https://joebloggshere.tumblr.com/post/633611709728325632/the-water-dancer-by-ta-nehisi-coates-i-liked-this

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 story transported me to another time and another place.

Hiram is a slave on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, his father being the plantation owner. His mother was sold and he struggles to recount his memories of her. There is something mystical about Hiram with his photographic memory and his ability to 'conduct'.

As he grows up he begins to hear tales of the Underground and he longs to escape his servitude. Along with Sophia who he has developed feelings for, they attempt to escape, only to discover they have been betrayed.

Hiram's life then takes on a wholly different direction. Rescued by friends from the underground, he plays a pivotal part in helping to free slaves and learns that freedom comes with heavy responsibility. He has never stopped dreaming of Sophia, and wants to free her, as well as his friend and mother figure, Thena.

The Water Dancer is beautifully written and an important insight into the life of a slave. Freedom is something we take for granted, but this wonderful book really shows how different life was for those born into slavery. Freedom of the mind is something that nobody can take away, and Hiram was an inspiring and wonderfully complex character. The Water Dancer really is a triumph.

Written in a very different mannerism than most books, the story follows Hiram and his journey from slavery to freedom. At times, I struggled to get into the narrative as the story was written with flourished language, interesting structures and lengthy sentences. It just required a bit more concentration. However, the book is woven masterfully, delving deep into the characters, their lives, values, and thoughts. A powerful story portrayed in lyrical language.

The only thing that didn’t seem to fit in at all for me was the “magic”. For me, it didn’t really have a place in the story and it took away more than it added.

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 after" his dissolute half brother, Maynard, with dire consequences. An incident in a river however, starts to open up new possibilities.

Hiram decides to flee with Sophia (with whom he has seemingly fallen in love) along the Underground Railroad but is betrayed. Ultimately this reconnects him with the secret network that constitutes the U.R and he escapes to Philadelphia. There they use his talent of a photographic memory but Hiram also starts to develop a more supernatural ability- that of "conduction".
This involves memory, the "collective unconsciousness" and links with his birth mother and his "adopted" mother Thena..

Themes of identity and freedom run throughout this book. I liked that Sophia talks about freedom as a woman as well as freedom from slavery.
The plantation's fall from fertile land to an arid desert -like landscape, mirrors the unsustainability of slavery as a way of life.
Recommended for lovers of Colson Whitehead and the book Washington Black.
This is a potent and memorable book.

What a book! In a way it did so much more than I was anticipating it would. With thanks: #TheWaterDancer #NetGalley
Perhaps there was a leftover under-expectation from this acclaimed bestseller that I've had to apply to recent books of similar ilk such as Colson's 'The Nickel Boys'. But not this one.

Despite the 'left field' inclusion in the make up of the novel, the magic realist elements took very little time to get used to. Coates goes all in, believing without doubt Hiram's condition and skill of Conduction. The tale of a boy born into slavery who subsequently deals with the complex and plentiful trials in his path, perhaps at the outset, could seem a well-done narrative. Yet this was unique and offers something really different for readers. The notion of Conduction gives space for deeper exploration of the mindset of Hiram as a slave, and the roles that he then plays upon moving to Philadelphia and becoming an agent. Coates really works to create his own hybridity of genre, with workable nods to Cold War fiction, fantasy, historical fiction AND some essence of Bildungsroman.

The undercurrent of historical fiction and communicating the horrors, realities and curious natures of the slavery culture of pre Civil War America packed a punch also. In reading this, I was transported to times and places through the prose Coates uses - his true mastery of language, metaphor and personified images are immersive and magic. But equally, and importantly, his constructions of character are embedded in realism, creating empathy and some moments of exquisite understanding between two very different worlds. Though a world away,
Engulfing and intriguing throughout, this is a book, (though telling a tale told a thousand times), works hard to retain a uniqueness which sets it apart. And in the main....succeeds with gusto!

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this novel and was unable to progress beyond a few chaoters as I found it very wordy and slow.

The story concerns a man named Hiram who is born into slavery in the pre-Civil War South and possesses a magical ability to transport people over long distances using a power known as “conduction” (a talent which the Underground Railroad movement is eager to utilize.) The way the novel considers issues to do with memory, grief and history regarding African Americans is so reminiscent of Morrison's writing it feels directly descended from the late great writer.

But it also reminded me of Charles Dickens' fiction in the tone and character of its story. Hiram is born into bondage, but his father is the plantation owner. He's tasked with serving and caring for his half brother Maynard who is entirely white so viewed as the natural successor. Hiram is far superior to Maynard in his intellectual and social abilities, but because he's mixed race can never inherit Lockless, the family's Virginian estate and tobacco plantation. So there's a dramatic tension in this injustice and it's riveting to follow how a gifted young downtrodden man might supersede his circumstances by utilizing his talents and exhibiting tremendous resilience. It feels like a very Dickensian trope to show how the progression of time results in miserly defeat for those who shore up their power and abuse the vulnerable. The way Coates traces Hiram's changing relationship to Lockless over time and the complexity of his birthright is so movingly portrayed.

What really emotionally drew me into the story though was Coates' meaningful depiction of a multitude of characters who must contend with excruciating effects caused by the manifold evils of slavery. I could feel a range of conflicted relationships to the past in each individual person Hiram meets along his journey. That Coates makes each of their experiences feel so distinct through subtle characterisation is really powerful. With lineage and familial relationships torn apart, each individual wrestles with different processes of reclaiming their heritage, trying to remember the past or consciously forgetting in order to suture the emotional wounds caused from such trauma. And at the heart of this story Hiram provides a fascinating counterpoint of someone who possesses a photographic memory but whose memories of his mother remain painfully obscured. The process he goes through as he grows into adulthood and finds a place he can claim as his home is described so intensely. It's brilliant storytelling that reinforces the immediate importance of stories themselves

I will begin this review by making two statements.
I can't bear fantasy in novels.
I LOVED this novel.
Ta-Nehisi Coates has made this realism loving reader suspend her disbelief and just immerse herself into the story and not only to do this, but to be left wanting more and thinking that the story would not have been the same without water dancing and conduction.
I've read many novels based around the horror of the slave trade in the Deep South and this one really stands out. The horror is palpable, the pain excruciating and the successes of the Underground Railroad are euphoric. Hiram is a deep and sympathetic character and the supporting cast of characters are also well drawn and believable, even the ones we seethe with anger towards.

Ever since reading Between the World and Me, I have been dying for another book from Ta-Nehisi Coates but, though the narrative and writing of his latest release left me on the edge of my seat, its supernatural elements stopped me from giving this book all of my heart. After-all, I have never been a lover of magical realism and I found that the powers that Hiram displays (especially the ones that relate to teleportation) detract from The Water Dancer's incredibly impactful, overarching messages of racism, bondage and freedom in pre-Civil War America, and never really succeeds in added anything significant to the quality of the story.
The main character's status as mixed-race, though common in the period due to the horrific sexual assaults frequently committed against Black women by the slave owners, is a perspective that I have never read from before and acted as a personal awakening. His challenges, though similar to that of his friends, family and other Black people he meets along to way (both freed and still enslaved), are not the same; like America at this time, he straddles a line - between being Black and being white, freed and enslaved, dehumanised and granted rights. Furthermore, he has to come to terms with the realities of his conception, and his need to find status and purpose in a world that doesn't ever seem to want to grant him any.
It is a rich and detailed picture of the horrors of slavery - a heartbreaking unpicking of generational trauma, inhuman action and the (often futile) desire to find any sense of family in a world that has made it impossible. And, though it wasn't a five star book by itself, I eagerly await the next in Ta-Nehisi Coates' repertoire - because I know it is only going to get better from here.