The Waters: A Novel Bonnie Jo Campbell

Bonnie Jo Campbell's 2024 novel, acclaimed by the TODAY Show's #ReadWithJenna Book Club, Oprah Daily, and Roxane Gay’s newsletter, presents a mesmerizing narrative set in Whiteheart, Michigan, centered around an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp known as “The Waters.” Hermine “Herself” Zook, a revered herbalist, wields potent tonics that both inspire fear and command awe as she tends to generations of local women. Meanwhile, her daughter, Rose Thorn, chooses to abandon her own daughter, the inquisitive Dorothy “Donkey” Zook, leaving her to grow up unbound by societal norms.

As Donkey seeks truths within the landscape and the pages of her math books, she remains oblivious to her family's hidden secrets, fervent loves, and imminent upheavals. Meanwhile, the smoldering discontent in Whiteheart threatens to erupt, fracturing the community. Rose Thorn becomes the fragile link spanning these troubled waters.

Campbell, renowned for her keen observations of the natural world, crafts a rural noir masterpiece that confronts the darker aspects of masculinity. The novel exalts the resilience of nature while exploring the delicate equilibrium between the brutality and tenderness of rural life. Against a backdrop of concealed truths and mounting tensions, the narrative delves into the intricacies of family, love, and community, offering a poignant exploration of a small town's essence and the extraordinary women who mold its destiny.