Wade in the Water: A Novel

"An impressive debut. Emotionally honest with lyricism and charm to spare, Nyani Nkrumah's Wade in the Water depicts in riveting detail a racially charged Mississippi town, the secrets it holds, and the precious heart and soul of a young girl deserving love."—Diane McKinney-Whetstone, author of Our Gen and Tumbling

"Fearless. . . . Vividly bring[s] to life rural 1980s Mississippi."—People

"A dreamy, brutal, and revelatory reading experience that quickens the pulse and tugs the heart."—Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Carry Me Home

Resonant with the emotional urgency of Alice Walker's classic Meridian and the poignant charm of Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, a gripping debut novel of female power and vulnerability, race, and class that explores the unlikely friendship between a precocious black girl and a mysterious white woman in a small Mississippi town...