THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Hiram Walker is a young slave on a Virginia tobacco plantation in the mid-1800s.  His white father owns the plantation and positions Hiram to be the manservant of Hiram’s white half-brother Maynard.  While being groomed for this job, Hiram learns to read and to take advantage of and exhibit his photographic memory.  Hiram has another talent, known as “conduction” in the novel, which allows him to teleport himself from one place to another.  I have to say that this magical realism aspect of the novel does not really add any particular value.  It seems very Harry Potter-like for what is undoubtedly a very serious novel.  It takes some time for Hiram to fully corral this ability, and, in the meantime, he has a number of adventures, both pleasant and terrifying.  The problem with this book is that, despite all of Hiram’s ups and downs, it drags.  This author has a reputation for non-fiction and perhaps needs to hone his ability to engage the reader with suspense and concern for the fate of the characters.  I did care what happened to Hiram, but I was not inspired to pick up the book and find out.  I trudged through it, delighted by the Harriet Tubman cameo, and worried for Hiram’s safety from start to finish.  However, we know from his first-person narrative that Hiram survives into old age, and I found that knowledge comforting but not exactly conducive to a nail-biting experience.  Still, there’s a lot of good stuff here, including a love story, a massive betrayal, and a heartwarming reunification.  Then there’s the ugly truth of slavery that we get to witness through the eyes of a young man who gains and shares a wide-angle perspective.