Nathan Harris

Nathan Harris entered American historical fiction with The Sweetness of Water, his 2021 debut from Little, Brown and Company. Set in rural Georgia during Reconstruction, the novel follows formerly enslaved brothers Prentiss and Landry alongside George and Isabelle Walker, a grieving white couple trying to reshape their farm and lives after the Civil War. Harris uses their intersecting choices to explore freedom, family, labor, and the violent resistance to social change. The book was selected for Oprah's Book Club, won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Harris holds an MFA from the Michener Center and was named a 2021 National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree.