Joining the tradition of great American novels THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, 12 YEARS A SLAVE and BELOVED, THE SWEETNESS OF WATER evokes the realities of hard-won freedom and conjures a story of humanity against all the odds. In the dying days of the American Civil War, newly freed brothers Landry and Prentiss find themselves cast into the world with barely enough to survive. Forced to hide out in the woods near their former Georgian plantation, they're soon discovered by the land's owner, George Walker, a man still reeling from the loss of his son in the war. After a shaky start, the men reach an agreement to live and work on the land, bringing a brief period of peace to the farm. But this sanctuary survives on a knife's edge, and the inhabitants of the nearest town are furious to hear of the alliance that has formed only a few miles away. Balancing beauty and horror throughout, Nathan Harris conjures a time of violence and danger with an artist's precision, while asking how we retain our humanity in the face of blind hatred.

''I thought I had made myself clear. I want something that conveys her majesty, her bloodline. Do you understand? She is no ordinary mortal. Treat her thus.'' Florence, the 1560s. Lucrezia, third daughter of Cosimo de'' Medici, is free to wander the palazzo at will, wondering at its treasures and observing its clandestine workings. But when her older sister dies on the eve of marriage to Alfonso d''Este, heir to the Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: Alfonso is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood, Lucrezia must now make her way in a troubled court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate her appears before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in uncomfortable finery for the painting which is to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court''s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferrarese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, her future hangs entirely in the balance.

Women''s Prize for Fiction 2021 SHORTLISTED ''Jones''s atmospheric debut has a multiracial, multigenerational cast who are brilliantly and even-handedly portrayed''Sunday Times ''Rare is the first book that reveals the writer fully formed, the muscles and sinews of her sentences firm and taut, the voice distinctly her own'' Washington Post ''A hard-hitting and unflinching novel from a bold new writer'' Bernardine Evaristo ''A bright new star. Cherie Jones draws us with skill, delicacy and glorious style into a vortex of Bajan lives on the edge'' Diana Evans In Baxter''s Beach, Barbados, Lala''s grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister, a cautionary tale about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers. For Wilma, it''s the story of a wilful adventurer, who ignores the warnings of those around her, and suffers as a result. When Lala grows up, she sees it offers hope - of life after losing a baby in the most terrible of circumstances and marrying the wrong man. And Mira Whalen? It''s about keeping alive, trying to make sense of the fact that her husband has been murdered, and she didn''t get the chance to tell him that she loved him after all. HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE is the powerful, intense story of three marriages, and of a beautiful island paradise where, beyond the white sand beaches and the wealthy tourists, lies poverty, menacing violence and the story of the sacrifices some women make to survive. ''An extraordinarilyhard-hitting and evocative novel that packs a tremendous punch with its repercussions of generational trauma, pin-sharp characterisations and strong sense of place'' Daily Mail