The Water Dancer

The New York Times Bestseller

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THE NEW YORK TIMES #1 BESTSELLER

OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK

'One of the best books I have ever read in my entire life. I haven't felt this way since I first read Beloved . . .' Oprah Winfrey

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...

'A transcendent work from a crucial political and literary artist' Diana Evans

'I've been wondering who might fill the intellectual void that plagued me after James Baldwin died. Clearly it is Ta-Nehisi Coates' Toni Morrison

Ta-Nehisi CoatesJoe MortonPenguin

Action & Adventure

Fantasy

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Historical

Literary Fiction

Multicultural

Paranormal

Magic

Heartfelt

Tear-jerking

War

Action & Adventure Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Multicultural Paranormal Magic Heartfelt Tear-jerking War

Critic reviews

Any writer tackling slavery needs to do something different with it, and The Water Dancer does just that. Coates' rhapsodic prose spins a soaring, scorching, supernatural tale of the imagination that sets this history alight and turns it into an original work of art. (Bernardine Evaristo)

One of the best books I have ever read in my entire life . . . I was enthralled, I was devastated. (Oprah Winfrey)

a remarkable story about inequality, slavery, memory, freedom and dignity. I found it important and universally relevant (Elif Shafak)

a crowd-pleasing exercise in breakneck and often occult storytelling that tonally resembles the work of Stephen King as much as it does the work of Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead and the touchstone African-American science-fiction writer Octavia Butler.

a work of both staggering imagination and rich historical significance . . . timeless and instantly canon-worthy.

A tale of slavery and mysterious power in this debut novel from one of America's most exciting young writers.

An arresting story of fantastical power in the brutal world of human bondage . . . A transcendent, arresting work from a crucial political and literary artist (Diana Evans)

Eagerly anticipated . . . The Water Dancer merges historical and fantasy fiction in a slavery story that Oprah Winfrey says is one of the best books she has read in her life.

In prose that sings and imagination that soars, Coates further cements himself as one of this generation's most important writers, tackling one of America's oldest and darkest periods with grace and inventiveness. This is bold, dazzling, and not to be missed

Beautiful prose and wonderful characters . . . an important book written by one of the great thinkers of our times. It's a thriller, a historical how-to, a love story and a warning. I read it one long night and the next day pressed it into everyone's hands. Brilliant.

Most relevant

I didn't know what I was getting into when I read this book and I am amazed at the writing and voice throughout the book. I highly recommend this and I loved it.