Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town
of Money, Mississippi -- a site both significant and infamous in our
collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting
novel, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of
the Hilson and Bryant families.
Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was
brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries
Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit.
Forty years later, after the death of her husband, Tass returns to Money
and fantasy takes flesh when Emmett Till's spirit is finally released
from the dank, dark waters of the Tallahatchie River. The two lovers are
reunited, bringing the story to an enchanting and profound conclusion.
Gathering of Waters mines the truth about Money, Mississippi, as well
as the town's families, and threads their history over decades. The
bare-bones realism -- both disturbing and riveting -- combined with a
magical realm in which ghosts have the final say, is reminiscent of Toni
Morrison's Beloved.