A formerly enslaved brother and sister who have been separated by circumstance fight to be reunited in Nathan Harris’ moving historical novel, AMITY, which follows his 2021 debut, the Oprah's Book Club pick THE SWEETNESS OF WATER.

Siblings Coleman and June are at the heart of this harrowing and hopeful story, which takes place in the years immediately before and after the end of the Civil War. Wrenched away from their mother as children, the pair grow up with their master, the predatory Wyatt Harper, Wyatt’s needy wife, and the couple’s strong-willed daughter, Florence. As the war draws to a close, Mr. Harper joins a group of other disgruntled Southerners on a journey to Mexico, where they can “build a life that accord[s] with their beliefs” and, they hope, strike it rich mining silver. He leaves behind his wife and teenage daughter, along with Coleman. But he brings June with him south of the border, promising that he’ll send for the other three members of the household later.

Two years pass, and Mr. Turlow, a man with a “dark disposition” and “uncivilized air,” arrives at the Harper home in New Orleans. He has been sent by Mr. Harper to fetch the family and bring them to Mexico. At least, that’s the story he tells. The truth is somewhat more complicated, as it becomes clear once Coleman, his former mistress, and Florence set forth on their surprising and often violent adventure.

"Harris wisely resists the urge to tie things up in a neat bow, instead inviting readers to consider how the hard work of healing unfolds."

Turlow is just one of many vividly rendered side characters who populate the book, along with a commanding Mexican general and his spoiled young daughter, a proud Black Seminole named Isaac, and Florence, who proves to be far from a fragile Southern belle. There’s also Coleman’s beloved dog, Oliver, who accompanies him on their journey and is a fully drawn personality in his own right.

Coleman is socially awkward but sharply intelligent. An autodidact, he’s educated himself by borrowing books from Mr. Harper’s library and listening in on Florence’s lessons, and he narrates his sections of the book in his unique voice. His careful diction and politesse are an armor against a dangerous and cruel world, masking a sensitive soul. “Freed with nothing to my name and nowhere to go,” he remains in the Harper household after the war ends partly because of a lack of options, but also out of a hope of eventually being reunited with June, and he admits, a “cowardice that lay at my core. My fear of the unknown.”

Coleman’s tale of his travels from New Orleans to Mexico alternate with June’s story of her own journey. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Harper’s dreams of an easy and prosperous life in a new country fail to materialize. His mood sours, and June is forced to take decisive action to save herself. She finds her way to Amity, a community of free Blacks in Mexico. It is unlike any place she has ever seen, and it allows her to imagine a life that goes beyond just the day-to-day struggle for survival. “What might she do in private, on a bright morning with no one knocking her about to make the coffee, prepare the laundry, visit the water wagon for a trip to the river,” she thinks, soon after she arrives. “What might she truly do with a moment’s reprieve?”

AMITY takes Coleman and June to some surprising and at times dark places. Theirs is a world ruled by instability and capricious violence. Mexico, which is in the midst of its own war, is not a safe haven. Survival is a question of both swift thinking and random luck. But for all the trauma these characters endure, they never fully relinquish their dream that there is a better future ahead for them. The siblings’ quest to find their way back to each other changes each in profound ways.

Harris wisely resists the urge to tie things up in a neat bow, instead inviting readers to consider how the hard work of healing unfolds.