The Water Dancer

I loved Hiram and “Moses” Harriet and the magical realism addition to the history of the Underground Railroad. I recently finished Babel and my biggest complaint was how unnecessary the magical addition was and that the characters were one dimensional. This book is the complete opposite. The “Conduction” was intentionally beautiful and all of the characters were complex. I have read several books about this historical period, specifically escaping slavery and making it north, but this is the first book with any real mention of the Underground. The secret society feel about it kept me anxious and the pages just flew by. I love the lyrical way that Coates writes and the dialogue in this book plucked me from the present time and dropped right into the story.