The Water Dancer

　　美國國家書卷獎得主、《在世界與我之間》作者塔納哈希．科茨(Ta-Nehisi Coates)首部長篇小說

　　我看見她，一名舞者，全身纏繞著幽藍的光──那是他們帶她回來的唯一方法。

　　希拉姆．沃克(Hiram Walker)生來為奴。五歲時，他便明白自己對人事物擁有出眾的記憶力──只除了他被賣的母親。他不明所以地失去了所有關於她的記憶，只能透過旁人地講述，在心中描繪出母親的形象。

　　他是洛克勒斯農園主與奴隸之子，從12歲開始侍奉同父異母的兄弟梅納德(Maynard)。19歲時，在一次他與梅納德回農園的路上，橋突然坍塌，讓他們雙雙墜河。希拉姆在水底被祖先們的影像所圍繞，最後，他看見一個女人，在水中起舞──在墜河前，他就已在橋上看見她，但當時身旁的梅納德、他們駕的馬卻彷彿毫無所覺。待希拉姆回過神來，他豁然明白那正是他的母親。他們說，她是洛克勒斯最好的舞者，正是她的舞姿吸引了她的父親，正是她的舞姿，讓希拉姆來到這個世界。

　　當他醒來，發現梅納德已經死亡，而自己獲得了讓他得以奇蹟生還的神祕能力，希拉姆從此能透過一道藍色的光，帶領人們穿過或沿著水體，穿過地域的界線，去到意圖抵達的地方。而脫離奴隸生活的渴望，也開始在他心中滋長，他因此不得不離開此生最愛的兩個人：代替母親扶養他長大的蒂娜(Thena)，與原本和他一同踏上逃亡之路的蘇菲亞(Sophia)。他打算帶著心愛的蘇菲亞離開的計畫，一開始便遭到阻撓，讓他們被追捕、囚禁，直到他再次施展「傳送」的能力，逃離困境、來到避難所。希拉姆在此被招募進入「地下鐵道」，由此展開了一場意想不到的旅程，他與其他成員秘密幫助被奴役的黑人逃往北方，參與奴隸與奴隸主間的戰爭，他也在此明白了，為爭取自由而發動的戰爭，將附帶著什麼樣的犧牲與限制。

　　而在這場戰役中，希拉姆一邊仍不斷測試自己的能力，決心要回去尋找被他留下的家人，以及，去面對他充滿謎團的過去……。

　　這個高潮迭起的故事，講述了被殘酷對待的一整個世代，包含女人、男人、兒童，以及一場僅僅是為了能與所愛之人生存下去，而發起的戰爭。科茨挾帶大膽奔放的想像力，潛入黑暗的歷史深處，帶來了如同魔幻版《地下鐵道》的精彩作品，再次證明了他是這個時代最傑出的思想家與作家。(文/博客來編譯)

　　From the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom.

　　Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

　　So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.

　　This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.

　　Advance praise for The Water Dancer

　　“In prose that sings and imagination that soars, Coates further cements himself as one of this generation’s most important writers, tackling one of America’s oldest and darkest periods with grace and inventiveness. This is bold, dazzling, and not to be missed.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

　　“Coates brings his considerable talent for racial and social analysis to his debut novel, which captures the brutality of slavery and explores the underlying truth that slaveholders could not dehumanize the enslaved without also dehumanizing themselves. Beautifully written, this is a deeply and soulfully imagined look at slavery and human aspirations.”—Booklist (starred review)

作者簡介

　　Ta-Nehisi Coates is the author of The Beautiful Struggle, We Were Eight Years in Power, and Between the World and Me, which won the National Book Award in 2015. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Coates lives in New York City with his wife and son.