What do you think?
The Watersmith
When hard-drinking handyman Jack Calloway discovers an old moonshine still behind the Smoky Mountain cabin he plans to flip, his teenage son dares him to get it running. Jack accepts— until his wife, Jolene, tries to sabotage the first batch and is horribly burned in the process. Wracked with guilt, Jack sends their son away and moves Jolene into the cabin to recover while he tries to sober up. Doctors diagnose Jolene with a rare post-traumatic dementia that responds only to scent— smell being the strongest trigger of memory. Desperate to help, Jack begins distilling essential oils from her favorite flowers, searching for the one that might bring her back. When a fleeting moment of clarity during a visit from their son slips away again, Jack grows frantic— willing to distill anything in his grasp to reach her. A haunting, tender tale of love, regret, and the volatile bonds between parents and children, The Watersmith is a story of oil and water, memory and mercy— and how far one man will go to bring his family home.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 14, 2026
I would give it a 3.5. The dad was just so terribly unlikeable!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Tonight, "what I aim to do (is) tell my story honest as I can and finish the Twelfth Step with my son…I turned him into an ice cube…Here’s how it happened…Jack rattles me around that insulated echo chamber…” of his thermos.
Jolene and Jack's shotgun wedding had exacerbated the conflict between the Treadwells and the Calloways. When Jack Calloway’s parents died in one fell swoop, Jolene’s brother Percy was the only coroner in the Tennessee Valley town of Show Low. The mention of a Calloway doing business with a Treadwell, even in death, was unheard of. The estrangement between Jack and his parents persisted even after the birth of JJ (Jack Junior). JJ was now 18 years old.
Jack’s parents owned nothing except a rundown cabin in the Smoky Mountains. Jolene, realtor and breadwinner of the family, wanted to fix up the cabin and flip it. Money from the sale would enable Jack, an unemployed budding entrepreneur, to try to develop a new product. His inventions were at a standstill.
When JJ was suspended from school for one week, it was a perfect opportunity for father/son bonding. “I had a window of time to capitalize on my act of goodwill with my son.” Finding Grandpa’s recipe, they would teach themselves to make moonshine. Upon completion, they passed the shine poured into a Mason jar, back and forth, from father to son…a rite of passage. JJ was acquiring a taste for it.
Jolene was not pleased when she came to the cabin to attend the Calloway cremation in the firepit. As JJ staggered forward, droplets of 190proof turned into an inferno when a spark caught on Jolene’s clothes. Lack of water in the cabin prolonged the burning. Finally standing in water, her lower torso spared, she would retain sensation in her legs. She could no longer see or hear. In the hospital, it was observed that when Jack brought her flowers, she leaned toward them, sniffing out the pollen. It was hoped that her sense of smell had the power to help her recollect. “Where once I’d counted the drinks I’d drunk, I now counted foot massages I’d given. Running was my new addiction. I counted the miles.
What Jack would give to rewind that fateful day, the day life irreparably changed. He was now Jolene’s full time caregiver. There was a complete breakdown between father and son. Jack angrily told JJ to leave and never return. “Grief, I convinced myself, grants us the right to indulge our vices. Forgiveness was an impossibility. Jack remembered “a moment of clarity” in the midst of a past blackout…cigarette burns… to keep him in line and away from Jolene Treadwell.
Jack rubbed, kneaded, and tickled Jolene’s feet. She used her big toe as a kind of pencil to encourage communication. He looked for scents to denote the seasons. Honeysuckle was indicative of spring. He jumped from novice to expert then producer of fragrances. Essential oils were extracted by distillation. Flowers, barks, berries and roots could be found in the backwoods of Eastern Tennessee. “There ain’t a lick of difference between that and distilling corn into moonshine.”
Jolene’s nurse, Genevieve offered sympathy and empathy especially when it was determined that Jolene was developing early onset dementia from the trauma she suffered. She needed something to live for. JJ needed to be found!
Water is “the world’s first mirror, Humans can see themselves in their freest form. “If the essence of something is that which gives life and man can’t live without water then water is the essence of man.” And so, the members of the AA meeting in Show Low “glimpse the thermos” in Jack’s hand as they leave the meeting. Grief, accountability, redemption and forgiveness will be forthcoming, highlighting a new beginning.
Highly recommended.
Thank you Yance Wyatt and Regal House Publishing for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Jolene and Jack's shotgun wedding had exacerbated the conflict between the Treadwells and the Calloways. When Jack Calloway’s parents died in one fell swoop, Jolene’s brother Percy was the only coroner in the Tennessee Valley town of Show Low. The mention of a Calloway doing business with a Treadwell, even in death, was unheard of. The estrangement between Jack and his parents persisted even after the birth of JJ (Jack Junior). JJ was now 18 years old.
Jack’s parents owned nothing except a rundown cabin in the Smoky Mountains. Jolene, realtor and breadwinner of the family, wanted to fix up the cabin and flip it. Money from the sale would enable Jack, an unemployed budding entrepreneur, to try to develop a new product. His inventions were at a standstill.
When JJ was suspended from school for one week, it was a perfect opportunity for father/son bonding. “I had a window of time to capitalize on my act of goodwill with my son.” Finding Grandpa’s recipe, they would teach themselves to make moonshine. Upon completion, they passed the shine poured into a Mason jar, back and forth, from father to son…a rite of passage. JJ was acquiring a taste for it.
Jolene was not pleased when she came to the cabin to attend the Calloway cremation in the firepit. As JJ staggered forward, droplets of 190proof turned into an inferno when a spark caught on Jolene’s clothes. Lack of water in the cabin prolonged the burning. Finally standing in water, her lower torso spared, she would retain sensation in her legs. She could no longer see or hear. In the hospital, it was observed that when Jack brought her flowers, she leaned toward them, sniffing out the pollen. It was hoped that her sense of smell had the power to help her recollect. “Where once I’d counted the drinks I’d drunk, I now counted foot massages I’d given. Running was my new addiction. I counted the miles.
What Jack would give to rewind that fateful day, the day life irreparably changed. He was now Jolene’s full time caregiver. There was a complete breakdown between father and son. Jack angrily told JJ to leave and never return. “Grief, I convinced myself, grants us the right to indulge our vices. Forgiveness was an impossibility. Jack remembered “a moment of clarity” in the midst of a past blackout…cigarette burns… to keep him in line and away from Jolene Treadwell.
Jack rubbed, kneaded, and tickled Jolene’s feet. She used her big toe as a kind of pencil to encourage communication. He looked for scents to denote the seasons. Honeysuckle was indicative of spring. He jumped from novice to expert then producer of fragrances. Essential oils were extracted by distillation. Flowers, barks, berries and roots could be found in the backwoods of Eastern Tennessee. “There ain’t a lick of difference between that and distilling corn into moonshine.”
Jolene’s nurse, Genevieve offered sympathy and empathy especially when it was determined that Jolene was developing early onset dementia from the trauma she suffered. She needed something to live for. JJ needed to be found!
Water is “the world’s first mirror, Humans can see themselves in their freest form. “If the essence of something is that which gives life and man can’t live without water then water is the essence of man.” And so, the members of the AA meeting in Show Low “glimpse the thermos” in Jack’s hand as they leave the meeting. Grief, accountability, redemption and forgiveness will be forthcoming, highlighting a new beginning.
Highly recommended.
Thank you Yance Wyatt and Regal House Publishing for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 11, 2026
Writing with both lyrical eloquence and an Appalachian colloquialism that teeters between quaint and profound, Yance Wyatt's The Watersmith is a novel that leaves you hurting but hopeful. The story follows Jack Calloway, a hard-drinking inventor and handy-man trying to navigate the pain of a life created by the decisions he makes as well as the legacy he has inherited. Jack is tortured, certainly, but the reader is artfully led to question how much of his pain is self-induced and how much is a function of the hand Jack has been dealt.
Jack's alcoholism isn't something he is so much as something he does. Like his failed attempts at invention, Jack approaches drinking like a cog in the process of living. Finding an old moonshine still behind his deceased parents' home—the same home he is tasked with renovating—Jack pragmatically uses the still as a catalyst to repair the relationship with his son. But when the first batch goes wrong and his wife is horrifically injured, Jack uses the still as a misguided means of reconnecting with her instead.
Like many entrepreneurs driven by need rather than clarity, Jack has enough motivation and resilience to will his desires just within reach, only to have the universe whisp them away as he grasps helplessly at his ambitions. Every effort he makes in repairing his relationships seems to follow a pattern: Wyatt delivers a moment of hope only to have it crushed by Sisyphus' boulder as it careens callously back to the bottom of the mountain. But this frustration is what makes The Watersmith compelling; the simultaneous urge to want to shake Jack while also needing to hug him. Because while Jack is a man shaped by his environment, his compulsions are constantly at odds with the man he believes he needs to be.
Ultimately, The Watersmith explores the ghosts of our own making: Jack's injured wife, his estranged son, and a ubiquitous addiction that permeates his existence. And these ghosts only haunt the memories of the survivors. Wyatt's voice is at times tender and at other times painfully brutal, but he maintains a haunting throughline that keeps the reader engaged with each heart-wrenching outcome. The Watersmith surprised me, a literary novel that traverses just enough magical realism to keep me guessing and invested, all while empathizing with a man who very well could be me—if I would have grown up on the side of a mountain in Tennessee. Some readers may find this novel difficult to read because Wyatt is so skillful at siphoning pain from an otherwise good batch of hope moonshine. But like any good recovery framework, the program works if you work it. And you keep coming back.
Jack's alcoholism isn't something he is so much as something he does. Like his failed attempts at invention, Jack approaches drinking like a cog in the process of living. Finding an old moonshine still behind his deceased parents' home—the same home he is tasked with renovating—Jack pragmatically uses the still as a catalyst to repair the relationship with his son. But when the first batch goes wrong and his wife is horrifically injured, Jack uses the still as a misguided means of reconnecting with her instead.
Like many entrepreneurs driven by need rather than clarity, Jack has enough motivation and resilience to will his desires just within reach, only to have the universe whisp them away as he grasps helplessly at his ambitions. Every effort he makes in repairing his relationships seems to follow a pattern: Wyatt delivers a moment of hope only to have it crushed by Sisyphus' boulder as it careens callously back to the bottom of the mountain. But this frustration is what makes The Watersmith compelling; the simultaneous urge to want to shake Jack while also needing to hug him. Because while Jack is a man shaped by his environment, his compulsions are constantly at odds with the man he believes he needs to be.
Ultimately, The Watersmith explores the ghosts of our own making: Jack's injured wife, his estranged son, and a ubiquitous addiction that permeates his existence. And these ghosts only haunt the memories of the survivors. Wyatt's voice is at times tender and at other times painfully brutal, but he maintains a haunting throughline that keeps the reader engaged with each heart-wrenching outcome. The Watersmith surprised me, a literary novel that traverses just enough magical realism to keep me guessing and invested, all while empathizing with a man who very well could be me—if I would have grown up on the side of a mountain in Tennessee. Some readers may find this novel difficult to read because Wyatt is so skillful at siphoning pain from an otherwise good batch of hope moonshine. But like any good recovery framework, the program works if you work it. And you keep coming back.
August 11, 2026
Time is but a stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Jack Calloway is the epitome of the Energizer Bunny.
He takes many a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.
My friend Fran gave this book all the stars, so I decided to check it out.
Here is what I liked:
🫗Shining ~ Southern fic often includes moonshine in some form or another. Jack Calloway and his son JJ discover an abandoned still behind the family cabin and they decide to follow Grandpa's instructions to make their own. Seeing the three generations united by the still was a strong backbone for what comes next. The Smokey Mountains are well represented.
👱Jolene Calloway ~ Jack's wife and JJ's Mama. She was once Show Low royalty as a Treadwell. Her marriage to Jack was comparable to a Hatfield marrying a McCoy. Though struck with tragedy midway through, she perseveres in amazing ways. Her sense of smell and the bottoms of her feet provide the pathways for connection.
🍶Watersmith ~ The company Jack creates was quite innovative in the grief process. The essence of your departed loved one is captured in a fragrance for you to keep them with you a bit longer.
🙏AA meetings ~ When his life implodes for the final time, Jack turns to AA. He has a plan to motor through all twelve steps in just the same number of days. His wise sponsor helps him to stick to the script despite his haste. My brother was an AA sponsor for many years and when he passed we met so many who had looked to him for guidance in their struggle to escape additction.
While on the short side, this one is filled with flowery and meaningful prose. There is a lot to ponder as we read Jack's story. Happy Publication Day - August 11, 2026. Thank you to Regal House Publishing and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Jack Calloway is the epitome of the Energizer Bunny.
He takes many a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.
My friend Fran gave this book all the stars, so I decided to check it out.
Here is what I liked:
🫗Shining ~ Southern fic often includes moonshine in some form or another. Jack Calloway and his son JJ discover an abandoned still behind the family cabin and they decide to follow Grandpa's instructions to make their own. Seeing the three generations united by the still was a strong backbone for what comes next. The Smokey Mountains are well represented.
👱Jolene Calloway ~ Jack's wife and JJ's Mama. She was once Show Low royalty as a Treadwell. Her marriage to Jack was comparable to a Hatfield marrying a McCoy. Though struck with tragedy midway through, she perseveres in amazing ways. Her sense of smell and the bottoms of her feet provide the pathways for connection.
🍶Watersmith ~ The company Jack creates was quite innovative in the grief process. The essence of your departed loved one is captured in a fragrance for you to keep them with you a bit longer.
🙏AA meetings ~ When his life implodes for the final time, Jack turns to AA. He has a plan to motor through all twelve steps in just the same number of days. His wise sponsor helps him to stick to the script despite his haste. My brother was an AA sponsor for many years and when he passed we met so many who had looked to him for guidance in their struggle to escape additction.
While on the short side, this one is filled with flowery and meaningful prose. There is a lot to ponder as we read Jack's story. Happy Publication Day - August 11, 2026. Thank you to Regal House Publishing and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I just finished "The Watersmith" by Yance Wyatt, and I honestly did not expect it to affect me as deeply as it did. 💙📖 This is a beautifully emotional novel about love, guilt, family, and the desperate hope of holding onto someone when it feels like they are slowly slipping away.
Jack is such a flawed yet deeply human character. His mistakes, regrets, and determination to make things right made me feel for him from the very beginning. Watching him struggle with addiction while trying to care for Jolene was heartbreaking, and his unwavering commitment to helping her recover gave the story so much emotional weight. I found myself hoping alongside him every time he searched for something that might bring back even a small piece of her memory. 🌸✨
One of my favorite aspects of the novel was the unique way scent and memory were connected. The idea that familiar fragrances could unlock forgotten moments felt both beautiful and deeply symbolic. It added a gentle, almost magical quality to an otherwise very realistic and emotional story.
The writing is vivid, heartfelt, and filled with quiet moments that linger long after you finish reading. The Smoky Mountain setting creates the perfect backdrop, making every scene feel rich and immersive. The relationships between Jack, Jolene, and their son are portrayed with honesty, tenderness, and emotional depth.
If you enjoy character driven novels that explore forgiveness, resilience, family bonds, and the enduring power of love, I highly recommend "The Watersmith". It is moving, beautifully written, and one of those stories that stays with your heart long after the final page. ❤️📚
Jack is such a flawed yet deeply human character. His mistakes, regrets, and determination to make things right made me feel for him from the very beginning. Watching him struggle with addiction while trying to care for Jolene was heartbreaking, and his unwavering commitment to helping her recover gave the story so much emotional weight. I found myself hoping alongside him every time he searched for something that might bring back even a small piece of her memory. 🌸✨
One of my favorite aspects of the novel was the unique way scent and memory were connected. The idea that familiar fragrances could unlock forgotten moments felt both beautiful and deeply symbolic. It added a gentle, almost magical quality to an otherwise very realistic and emotional story.
The writing is vivid, heartfelt, and filled with quiet moments that linger long after you finish reading. The Smoky Mountain setting creates the perfect backdrop, making every scene feel rich and immersive. The relationships between Jack, Jolene, and their son are portrayed with honesty, tenderness, and emotional depth.
If you enjoy character driven novels that explore forgiveness, resilience, family bonds, and the enduring power of love, I highly recommend "The Watersmith". It is moving, beautifully written, and one of those stories that stays with your heart long after the final page. ❤️📚
August 12, 2026
The Watersmith
This is the first book I’ve read this year that genuinely made me think. I tend to gravitate toward books that are fun, easy, and good vibes, so this one really surprised me.
Yance did an incredible job pulling me into the story. The descriptions were so vivid that I could practically see, smell, and sense everything he was describing. The writing was lyrical and emotional, with such a beautiful gothic atmosphere.
At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to be a fan of Jack. He definitely had his flaws, and there were moments when I struggled with some of his choices. But by the end, I felt like he earned his redemption for the mistakes he made along the way.
This book will make you think, pull on your heartstrings, and stay with you long after you finish it. At its heart, it’s a beautiful story about redemption, love, and family.
Definitely one of those books that gave me more to think about than I expected.
This is the first book I’ve read this year that genuinely made me think. I tend to gravitate toward books that are fun, easy, and good vibes, so this one really surprised me.
Yance did an incredible job pulling me into the story. The descriptions were so vivid that I could practically see, smell, and sense everything he was describing. The writing was lyrical and emotional, with such a beautiful gothic atmosphere.
At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to be a fan of Jack. He definitely had his flaws, and there were moments when I struggled with some of his choices. But by the end, I felt like he earned his redemption for the mistakes he made along the way.
This book will make you think, pull on your heartstrings, and stay with you long after you finish it. At its heart, it’s a beautiful story about redemption, love, and family.
Definitely one of those books that gave me more to think about than I expected.
September 15, 2026
The Watersmith is a story that stays with you because there is a lot happening beneath the main plot. Yance Wyatt follows Jack Calloway after an accident changes his family and forces him to face the damage caused by his drinking and choices
What stood out to me was the connection between scent and memory. Jack starts making essential oils from Jolene’s favourite flowers, hoping one of the scents might bring back her memories. It is an unusual idea and gives the story an emotional centre.
I liked how much the family relationships matter. Jack’s guilt his relationship with his son and his determination to help Jolene make the story feel bigger than the tragedy. There is a lot here about regret, forgiveness, addiction and trying to fix things when you can not undo what happened.
The cover caught my eye with the jar filled with flowers water and stones reflecting the book’s themes.
It is a moving story about love, memory and how far someone will go for family.
What stood out to me was the connection between scent and memory. Jack starts making essential oils from Jolene’s favourite flowers, hoping one of the scents might bring back her memories. It is an unusual idea and gives the story an emotional centre.
I liked how much the family relationships matter. Jack’s guilt his relationship with his son and his determination to help Jolene make the story feel bigger than the tragedy. There is a lot here about regret, forgiveness, addiction and trying to fix things when you can not undo what happened.
The cover caught my eye with the jar filled with flowers water and stones reflecting the book’s themes.
It is a moving story about love, memory and how far someone will go for family.
August 13, 2026
I received this book after an online conversation with the author, Yance Wyatt. I read the book with few expectations. It was an amazing experience. It was a sensory experience. It made me think hard about the scents surrounding me and the life milestones and events that certain scents bring back as visceral memories.
The main character is loyal, determined, and not terribly likable. He owns his mistakes, his lifestyle, and his choices. I respect that. He had a strong relationship to his wife, and a poor relationship with his son. He owns that. I respect that.
The writing is emotive, it is sensual. The characters are deep, raw, and suffering. There is love, struggle, and acceptance in this story.
The main character is loyal, determined, and not terribly likable. He owns his mistakes, his lifestyle, and his choices. I respect that. He had a strong relationship to his wife, and a poor relationship with his son. He owns that. I respect that.
The writing is emotive, it is sensual. The characters are deep, raw, and suffering. There is love, struggle, and acceptance in this story.
September 6, 2026
Loved the title and the ever presence mention of water throughout whether readily available, the greatest missing component, or it’s flowing through life.
The book sheds the pain of wrong choices and the revelation of forgiveness and determination as it winds through the protagonist’s life.
It is a depressing story of a sorry life from start to the end. There was a very strong bond of love but almost a huge supply of neediness to carry the love.
Sometimes the extensive description particularly in the early parts of the book loses the reader in becoming immersed within the story.
I would have particularly liked to have actually read more about Jolene’s character, thoughts, and emotions.
The book sheds the pain of wrong choices and the revelation of forgiveness and determination as it winds through the protagonist’s life.
It is a depressing story of a sorry life from start to the end. There was a very strong bond of love but almost a huge supply of neediness to carry the love.
Sometimes the extensive description particularly in the early parts of the book loses the reader in becoming immersed within the story.
I would have particularly liked to have actually read more about Jolene’s character, thoughts, and emotions.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I absolutely loved this book. It was, for me, a 5 star read. The plot is unique, the characters well developed, and the pacing perfect. The Watersmith tells the story of Jack Calloway and his struggle to become someone who can care for his family in the aftermath of tragedy.
Set in the Smoky Mountains this story grabbed my heart and did not let go. I find myself thinking of the characters and wondering how they are doing. This story will stay with me for a long, long time. I highly recommend The Watersmith by Yance Wyatt.
Set in the Smoky Mountains this story grabbed my heart and did not let go. I find myself thinking of the characters and wondering how they are doing. This story will stay with me for a long, long time. I highly recommend The Watersmith by Yance Wyatt.
August 22, 2026
The Watersmith is very much in the vein of Faulkner and McCarthy, although more redemptive. The writing is strong, and some of it is quite beautiful, but the themes are heavy. Because I tend to stew on what I read, I read this book a few chapters at a time to dilute some of the drama that’s a hallmark of this sub-genre—and that’s not a criticism. Although I haven’t read much Southern Gothic Fiction since high school, I have only praise for Wyatt’s ability to craft a compelling, atmospheric, and touching tale
September 25, 2026
Definitely a haunting, slow burn novel (pun not intended, I promise) about family, complicated father-son dynamics, loss, grief, trauma, and how we handle the unimaginable. There’s a lot of pain in these pages but there is healing, acceptance, and forgiveness as well. This book gave me a lot to consider as a mother of boys and made me wonder how my husband and I would handle certain early adult struggles if they were to come up. I can’t wait for more from this author. He found a way to channel real pain into a story with tons of heart.
August 13, 2026
Wyatt’s The Watersmith is easily one of the best Southern novels of 2026. The book uses setting so beautifully as it navigates a moving story of memory. The prose is lyrical and poetic, and the whole thing just sings. It’s the kind of book you read and then share.
August 21, 2026
This book proposes an implausible concept and makes it intriguing and believable. The writing is excellent with vivid descriptions that allow you to visualize place, time and characters. I believe Yance Wyatt is an emerging literary heavyweight.
October 4, 2026
If Tom Robbins decided to write an even darker southern gothic novel this would have been the result
Strangest book I have read in years
Strangest book I have read in years
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
If David Joy, Silas House, and Edgar Allen Poe got together to write a book about a man deep in grief and the overwhelming power of love and need for redemption… this would be the book written. It’s Southern gothic literature at its hauntingly poetic best.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews