Gathering of Waters by Bernice McFadden

I loved this book.  The book weaves historical events into the narrative, which I am not always fond of, but in this case I loved that as well.  The book has a magical realism quality that I do love.  So it is a trifecta of fiction, a real winner.

The story goes across the 20th century in a mere 250 pages with a series of interlinked stories.  It takes place beginning  post-WWI and most of the action occurs in a fictional place called Money, Mississippi.  The historical context goes from the 1927 Flood, rolls in the infamous murder of Emmett Till, and ends with Hurricane Katrina. 

We meet Doll, a child who is felt by her mother to be possessed by the spirit of a well known but deceased hooker.  The mother wrestles with raising the child for a while, but eventually abandons her to the town preacher--he and his wife heartily bring Doll into their family, and she is a model child up until the point that she startgs sleeping with her adopted father, which inevitably leads to the break up of the family, her marriage to the preacher, and their move to Mississippi.  The theme of a spirit imbuing another--for better or for worse, runs through the book in a very nice and pleasing way.  The lynching of Emmett Till and what happens to his spirit if very nice indeed.  This is a wonderful atmoshperic book that is very hopeful, despite dealing with very troubling themes that include natural disaster, incest, lynching, and so much more.