Gathering of Waters

By Bernice L. McFadden

Book Overview

--One of Essence's "Best Books of the Decade"

--A New York Times Notable Book of 2012

--Gathering of Waters was a finalist for a Phillis Wheatley Fiction Book Award.

"McFadden works a kind of miracle--not only do her characters] retain their appealing humanity; their story eclipses the bonds of history to offer continuous surprises . . . Beautiful and evocative, Gathering of Waters brings three generations to life . . . The real power of the narrative lies in the richness and complexity of the characters. While they inhabit these pages they live, and they do so gloriously and messily and magically, so that we are at last sorry to see them go, and we sit with those small moments we had with them and worry over them, enchanted, until they become something like our own memories, dimmed by time, but alive with the ghosts of the past, and burning with spirits." --Jesmyn Ward, New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice

"Read it aloud. Hire a chorus to chant it to you and anyone else interested in hearing about civil rights and uncivil desires, about the dark heat of hate, about the force of forgiveness." --Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered, NPR

Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi--a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families.

Tass Hilson and Emmet Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit.

Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.

Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well as the town's families, and threads their history over decades. The bare-bones realism--both disturbing and riveting--combined with a magical realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's Beloved.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 161775031X
• ISBN13: 9781617750311
• Release Date: January 2012
• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Very Different

Berniece is one of my favorite authors but this one did not grab my attention. She is a very talented writer and is very inspirational because she covers so many topics without fanfare. This one which is a hip attached to Emmett Till was interesting but somewhat disappointed because she would be so present in the story and then she would move into dreams and the return of the dead. When she talks about the reincarnation of JW, this was too much and out of reality. But, throughout this saga the spirit of Emmett always come back to show his face in Tass life. I hated the ending of this story. Of course, she acknowledged that every reader might not like this kind of mystery/truth that constantly whirl in and out of the novel.