Should the Waters Take Us
A Novel
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.
Should the Waters Take Us
Narrated by:
Amy Chaffee
Pre-order Now for £14.69
-
Narrated by:
-
Amy Chaffee
Summary
“A deeply talented and wonderful writer.”—Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones and Let Us Descend
“Should the Waters Take Us is filled with unforgettable characters, breathtaking scenes, fascinating time jumps, and a setting so precisely rendered that it’s palpable.” —Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye
In the shifting bayous of coastal Louisiana, on a rapidly disappearing spit of land, generations of Acadians have kept their heads above water any way they can. When an offshore rig explodes and unleashes a catastrophic spill, the people of Pelerin Parish face a reckoning that tests the bonds of family and the survival of their way of life.
As the toxic plume of oil advances across the Gulf, Boy Broussard, already living hand to mouth off another man’s land, finds himself raising a daughter he barely knows. His dying aunt, Rosa Terrebonne, tries to right the misdeeds of the past yet finds herself thwarted by her husband, Jacot, a retired landman for big oil who refuses to give up claim to the plot of ground where Boy makes his living. Meanwhile, the parish priest, Father Fabian, far from his home in the Niger Delta, lends his assistance to Boy’s all-but-motherless daughter, only to be met with suspicion and hostility from the insular community. When a powerful hurricane threatens to turn an already dire situation into a total cataclysm, this sharp-edged cast of characters collides in a thunderclap of resentment and violence. Throughout all this, Soileau unfolds a sweeping tapestry of loss, resilience, and the fragile miracle of hope.
Should the Waters Take Us reaches across four hundred years of history to illuminate the many epochs and peoples of this storied place. Soileau has crafted an emotionally explosive family saga, as well as a masterful literary crie de coeur about the ways in which moral compromise can eat away at the very fabric of the places we call home.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
Critic reviews
“As the best fiction does, Stephanie’s work makes us empathize . . . makes us bear more than we thought we could, makes us understand more deeply than we thought we were capable of. A deeply talented and wonderful writer.”
—Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones and Let Us Descend
“Should the Waters Take Us is filled with unforgettable characters, breathtaking scenes, fascinating time jumps, and a setting so precisely rendered that it’s palpable, but what I admire most is the intimate and shape-shifting narrative voice that delivers it all. Stephanie Soileau’s debut novel is a stunning achievement.”
—Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye
“Should the Waters Take Us is an extraordinary book—one of the most accomplished debut novels I’ve ever read. Stephanie Soileau is wise, fierce, and brilliant, a writer of unflinching moral authority and uncommon wisdom who asks us to mourn those lonesome and beautiful places that have already been lost and to act now to save what remains.”
—Elizabeth Wetmore, author of Valentine
“Soileau deftly balances the fragility and desperation of Gulf Coast life with the resilience and pride of its people. The novel’s lyrical prose and strong sense of place call to mind Jesmyn Ward . . . while its portrayal of the devastation of climate change and pollution will resonate with fans of Eiren Caffall . . . and Charlotte McConaghy.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Wonderful . . . Steeped in history . . . What sets [Should the Waters Take Us] apart are Soileau’s heroic and tragic characters. It’s remarkable.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
—Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones and Let Us Descend
“Should the Waters Take Us is filled with unforgettable characters, breathtaking scenes, fascinating time jumps, and a setting so precisely rendered that it’s palpable, but what I admire most is the intimate and shape-shifting narrative voice that delivers it all. Stephanie Soileau’s debut novel is a stunning achievement.”
—Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye
“Should the Waters Take Us is an extraordinary book—one of the most accomplished debut novels I’ve ever read. Stephanie Soileau is wise, fierce, and brilliant, a writer of unflinching moral authority and uncommon wisdom who asks us to mourn those lonesome and beautiful places that have already been lost and to act now to save what remains.”
—Elizabeth Wetmore, author of Valentine
“Soileau deftly balances the fragility and desperation of Gulf Coast life with the resilience and pride of its people. The novel’s lyrical prose and strong sense of place call to mind Jesmyn Ward . . . while its portrayal of the devastation of climate change and pollution will resonate with fans of Eiren Caffall . . . and Charlotte McConaghy.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Wonderful . . . Steeped in history . . . What sets [Should the Waters Take Us] apart are Soileau’s heroic and tragic characters. It’s remarkable.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
No reviews yet