I started reading The Sweetness of Water today and from page one I assumed the characters were Black until I got to the second page when Negroes were mentioned. I mean, the 200 acres of land had given me pause, but I guess since I knew the premise of the book and that the author was Black, that’s how my mind entered the scene of the novel.
Positionality is important.
Why did the author not find it relevant to racialize the White character? Why does Whiteness continue to be the default position?
Chapter 2 is from George’s wife, Isabelle’s, perspective, the perspective of the White man. Since this novel is about emancipation, the end of the civil war, and Reconstruction, and I assumed correcting American history. Why? Curious to see where this goes ….
The Amazon.com summary of the book’s premise opens with ” In the waning days of the Civil War, brothers Prentiss and Landry—freed by the Emancipation Proclamation—seek refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of …. Prentiss and Landry, meanwhile, plan to….”
The New York Times bestselling book is an Oprah’s Book Club pick and was on President Barack Obama’s 2021 summer reading list.