Should the Waters Take Us

“As the best fiction does, Stephanie’s work makes us empathize … makes us bear more than we thought we could, makes us understand more deeply than we thought we were capable of. A deeply talented and wonderful writer.”
—Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award-winning author of Salvage the Bones and Let Us Descend

“Should the Waters Take Us is filled with unforgettable characters, breathtaking scenes, fascinating time jumps, and a setting so precisely rendered that it’s palpable, but what I admire most is the intimate and shape-shifting narrative voice that delivers it all. Stephanie Soileau’s debut novel is a stunning achievement.”
—Patrick Ryan, author of Buckeye

“Should the Waters Take Us is an extraordinary book—one of the most accomplished debut novels I’ve ever read. Stephanie Soileau is wise, fierce, and brilliant, a writer of unflinching moral authority and uncommon wisdom who asks us to mourn those lonesome and beautiful places that have already been lost and to act now to save what remains.”
—Elizabeth Wetmore, author of Valentine

“Soileau deftly balances the fragility and desperation of Gulf Coast life with the resilience and pride of its people. The novel’s lyrical prose and strong sense of place call to mind Jesmyn Ward … while its portrayal of the devastation of climate change and pollution will resonate with fans of Eiren Caffall … and Charlotte McConaghy.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Wonderful … Steeped in history … What sets [Should the Waters Take Us] apart are Soileau’s heroic and tragic characters. It’s remarkable.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An evocative sense of place is created by [Soileau’s] keen descriptions of the bayous, lakes, and marshes… . Equally compelling, her characters are set in motion against a backdrop of environmental uncertainty, family disharmony, and economic stress… . [Should the Waters Take Us is] a gorgeous meditation on the forces that create and destroy communities, families, and lives.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Bayou culture bewitches in [Soileau’s] Louisiana literary triumph … Awash in vivid color … With Should the Waters Take Us, Cajun culture’s imprint on American fiction is not just less faint; it’s indelible, set deep. Laissez les bonnes pages rouler: Let the good pages roll.”
—Garden & Gun

“Oil spills are—bluntly—gross, but Soileau’s prose about them is gorgeous and evocative.”
—Foreign Policy

“[Soileau’s] novel combines familiar strains of Southern writing, with echoes of Jesmyn Ward, James Lee Burke, Kaye Gibbons, and Larry Brown, but with a new voice all its own. It is a novel that should not be missed for its place in the literary tradition, the grace of its prose and its empathy for the lives it depicts… . Should the Waters Take Us joins a proud tradition of Southern storytelling that — whatever encroachments there may be — still abides. Read it.”
—Mississippi Clarion Ledger

“Soileau writes Louisiana people layered in a way that few before have attempted. There is authenticity and evenhandedness in her telling, promising that literary fiction is alive and well.”
—Southern Review of Books

STEPHANIE SOILEAU is the author of the critically acclaimed story collection Last One Out Shut Off the Lights. Her work has been supported by fellowships from the Wallace Stegner Fellowship Program at Stanford University and the National Endowment for the Arts. Originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, Soileau now lives in Chicago with her family and teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Chicago.

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