Water Darling

by Evan Ramspott

There are things we know nothing about. Rainmaking, for instance. Believers will tell you it's as real as the ground beneath your feet. Imogene Parker would have been the first to count herself a skeptic, until the day she met Thomas Finn. From that day on, nothing in her life would ever be the same. Return now to the summer of 1921. Tulsa is about to burn. A young black man is accused of assaulting a white woman in broad daylight and the incendiary opinions of one newspaper stoke the passions of this divided city—a stage for the worst racial conflict in American history, and events for which we may never know the truth. For history buffs and readers who loved To Kill A Mockingbird and Sometimes a Great Notion, this is a must-read book about the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. A gripping, tragic love story, Water Darling lays bare the heart and soul of a nation and its people in a time of change.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 2, 2020

About the author

Evan Ramspott is an American author of commercial literary fiction. His book Water Darling is noted for its gritty, honest portrayal of unforgettable American dreams. His most recent novel, At Windsong's End, is a rich and compelling tale of the fantastic, an ancient adventure that brings dragons to life. He is always looking for his next inspiration and tries to find it in the pages of great books or rummaging through antique stores.

Evan also writes genre fiction under the unorthodox pen name Better Hero Army. His Plagued States of America series of zombie stories are consistently described as unique and entertaining. His other works include a series of middle-school books about ghosts and gargoyles, some hard-hitting military science-fiction adventures, and an imaginary movie universe..

Reviews

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

When I thought about rainmakers, it was usually in the context of Native Americans performing a rain dance. Rain making is obviously a misunderstood concept among most folks. In this story, set in Tulsa in 1921, readers will come to know three individuals who are each very different, but who happen to share the gift of rainmaking.

Readers meet Imogene Parker while she is on the road making rain throughout the drought-stricken panhandle. Also known as Rainmaker Jane, Imogene soon finds that things are getting way out of hand with the rain she brings.

Imogene discovers that a young black man named Walt, has mistaken her for someone else and has been tampering with her rainmaking. Walt has rainmaking ability also, but his gift is new and he is still learning how to use it.

Walt and Imogene make their peace and Walt offers to give Imogene a ride back to Tulsa so she can save in train fare. In the meantime, Thomas Finn, another rainmaker, has come to Oklahoma. To make matters worse, he and Imogene have a history—one that Imogene has not quite recovered from.

When Imogene and Walt arrive in Tulsa it’s not long before racial tensions start boiling over. Thomas Finn gets into town soon after and each one suffers from the racial violence that occurs after a newspaper article fans the flames of racial hatred.

I have to say, I was not expecting the book to turn out the way it did. It ended up being mainly about the race riot and less about rainmaking. I was captivated by the last half of the story, mainly due to the fact that it was such a pivotal time in history. As for the rain making, I fall in with the skeptics.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Storyteller Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

[Trick Wiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will love the adventure you are taken on in this story with the characters are so life like. You feel the emotions that they feel and the changes that this town and our country have to go through. Don't think America will ever really get over the different races we have in this world,some just don't want to accept what God has put on this earth. Just why he made people different colors,the struggles who knows the plan! Learned all sorts of different things and just life. Let it rain!! You will know why and was surprised at the end ,so will you!!

[Joann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came into this novel knowing nothing about "rainmakers" and their travels. I came away falling in love with the characters, the dealings of race and the ending! I would have loved to learn a little more about the history of rainmakers in this era, but I was still able to glean what I needed to understand. This book addressed racial issues that still exist today, but it was written from a time gone by which made it even more poignant. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it easily! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for ARC.

[Edna Olmstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unnerving


To be placed in the middle of history right beside those who lived it takes a rare talent. You'll feel the emotions and hear the noises and smell the sulfur with this tale.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot approaching, Evan Ramspott’s Water Darling packs a wallop. Seeming to open as the story of rainmakers paid to bring much needed rain to parched Oklahoma, the book, nonetheless, begins to zero in on racial issues from the start, describing how blacks could watch the rainmakers’ work/shows only from a distance where they could not hear anything said.

In the early pages, “Rainmaker Jane” (Imogen Parker) moves from Tonkawa to Perry to Stillwater trying to raise money by her rainmaking, and readers begin to learn how incidents in a person’s background can create the power to bring rain or even violent killer storms. We meet not only Imogen, the single mother of four-year-old Syd, but also Walt, a young black man who believes he has finally found the woman who swindled his farmer father out of his last golden eagle coin, and Thomas Finn, Imogen’s former lover, whom she has not seen since a violent night in Austin, Texas, five years earlier. After the three end up in Stillwater at the same time and Thomas realizes Jane/Imogen survived the cataclysmic domestic and meteorological events in Austin, the action moves to Tulsa, a city populated by millionaire oil men, working class whites, and the thriving black Greenwood community with its hotels, newspapers, beautiful new church, and fashionable residents, resented, in part, for their success. While people on both sides want calm, others are ready to clash, whether wanting to gain equal rights or to put the others in their place.

Jane is trying to reestablish her life with parents and young son while simultaneously fearing what may happen if Thomas Finn follows her. Walt seeks out a former girlfriend from rural Oklahoma, who has made her home in Greenwood the past five years. All three arrive in Tulsa as the city explodes in one of the most covered up tragic events of American history. How will events affect each of the three? Will any of the three be able to call upon their shared rainmaking powers?

Ramspott does an outstanding job portraying 1921 Oklahoma. He follows up with notes in which he discusses his historical research and what is real and fictional in his excellent historical novel. Anyone wanting to learn more about these few tragic and long covered up days in American history can do so by using the list of resources he also provides. Like its young adult counterpart, Jennifer Latham’s Dreamland Burning (2017), Evan Ramspott’s Water Darling deserves to be read.

Many thanks to Storyteller Press and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy. The only factor holding me back from a 5/5 rating is the absence of chapter breaks, something that may be added between release of the the Advance Reader Copy and commercial release.

[Shomeret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Water Darling by Evan Ramspott is a Historical Fictionistas giveaway win. I received a free copy of Water Darling from the author and this is my honest review.

The strongest aspect of this novel involved the massacre in Tulsa in 1921. It's a powerful description of the terrible violence of this event. I had no trouble following the changing perspectives, but some readers may be confused. I think that the constant switching of viewpoints effectively conveyed the utter chaos in Tulsa at the time.

Water Darling could have been two separate novels, and perhaps that is what Evan Ramspott should have done. There would have been a paranormal character-oriented book about rain callers, their training, their internal conflicts and the difficulties of rain calling as a profession. The other book would have focused on racism--particularly the deadly paroxysm of societal racism that led to the massacre in Tulsa.

It seemed to me that the rain calling aspect was underdeveloped. If protagonist Imogene's career as a rain caller had been a separate book, we could have had a broader view of rain calling and its practitioners. Readers could have met potentially fascinating characters that are only mentioned in Water Darling, and discovered more about Imogene's interactions with them. The Tulsa massacre aspect as a separate novel would have been a better paced, more action oriented book.

Another problem that I had with Water Darling is that Imogene went through a process of maturation during the novel that wasn't completed during the course of the narrative. So I never got the chance to say that now Imogene is a strong woman protagonist. I thought she was almost there, but I'm not convinced from the epilogue that it actually happened. The epilogue was a sketchy summary. It didn't tell me what I really wanted to know about Imogene. I was looking for some sort of scene that would illustrate her growth.

Although I was impressed with the Tulsa massacre section and Ramspott's research into the historical record about it, I have to conclude that Water Darling is a flawed novel that didn't meet all of my expectations.

For my complete review see https://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/2...

[Maria Spillane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this book, though I felt parts of it could have been elaborated on to build more of a background to the story. The main character, Imogene, is quite likeable and I enjoyed travelling with her on her journey. The rainmaking aspect of the story-line intrigued me and I would have ;liked to learn about the history of it and how it came about. Additionally, the strong undercurrent of racism, and how one of the other main characters, Walt, has to deal with it is very well written. As I am not from Tulsa or overly familiar with its history, the ending took me by surprise, but overall this was a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[W. Neilsen Neilsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most fascinating, interesting books I've ever read. I started out being mesmerized by these people I had heard slightly mentioned a few times in my childhood, who could conjure up rain, wind, even heavy storms, during the droughts and dust bowl that hit the Midwest and south during the early 1920's. Before I realized it, I was pulled into our nation's first, and one of its most horrific race riots ever, that was rarely spoken of, if ever, in the past 100 years. Having this story tie into such vivid history with characters you have already grown close to, was a driving force for me. I felt I was right there with Imogen and her family, trying to get Walt out of Tulsa.
I won't spoil the underlying writing of this book: but I will say, it brought emotions of anger, sadness, confusion, it brought finger-pointing, and most of all blame to the history writers and teachers who never bothered to include this in our lessons long ago. How can we learn, if we never knew..Read this book!

[cheryl giles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning

The lives of Three very different rainmakers are brilliantly woven together. Through using a white man, white woman, and a black man as main characters, the author aptly describes the gender differences of this time period. The racial differences are magnificently highlighted for the reader through each of the characters thoughts.
This is such a difficult topic but was handled with compassion and care. I am a better person from having read this.

[Maureen Mayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea for this book has me intrigued, and while I enjoyed the author’s style of writing, the story itself didn’t draw me in as much as I had hoped it would.

This is the first time I’ve read a story where the narrative switched from the first person POV of one character, to third person, and then back to first person of another character’s POV. It was a bit confusing at first, but as I got used to the flow of the writing, I actually quite liked it.

The whole idea of “rainmakers” is really interesting, especially the history behind it, and I think Imogene was a perfect character to embody as a rainmaker. From the very beginning, she came across as a very unique and strong woman, but when it came to Thomas I found her to be a bit weak. I didn’t like their “relationship” or lack thereof in this book, and I didn’t feel like it added much to the story either. In fact, I felt like that aspect of the book kind of dragged on.

I really enjoyed Walt’s character and his interactions with Imogene, both the good and the bad. I found his “relationship” with Clara had a bit of a parallel with Imogene and Thomas’s too. It was almost as if they had put their love interests on a pedestal, and when they finally ran into them again after years apart, they realized it wasn’t meant to be.

The race riot seemed like such an important point in the story, yet it only took up a small portion of the book. I wish it had been more prominent and more spread out, because the majority of the book was pretty even keeled and then suddenly it was nonstop action until almost the very end. I wish there was more of a buildup.

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just not feeling this one. The premise of the novel sounded great, however the execution was not. The novel continually switched its narrative among the main characters as well as that of a third party narrator. It was confusing and off putting. I am sure there are others out there who think this kind of narrative was a great idea and will set this book apart from others. While that is certainly true, i'm just not convinced it sets it apart in a good way. Thank to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

[Jennifer Silva Redmond]

A compelling and timely historical novel

Because I used the words timely and historical, I must also say that this novel doesn't read like something "important," though it is. Ramspott is a fine writer, with a gift for writing realistic characters. Here, he is able to capture a moment in history in a wonderfully real way, and use that as background to this lively and imaginative fictional story. Well done!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Evil of Racism

I had never heard of the Race Riot of 1921 before reading this book. It really surprised me also. I enjoyed reading this novel except when it went from one story to another so quickly without even starting another paragraph. I was impressed with those who could do rain calling as I have heard of it when I was younger but I always thought it to be folklore. It was a great novel and I am happy I read it.

[Judi Easley]

This book has two distinct aspects to be addressed. One is the way the book was written and the other is what was written. I'm going to do a full review on my blog on this one because I want to be sure to work out everything I want to say about each aspect. Then I'll figure out what to rate the book. But I can tell you now that this is a book that will stay with me, haunt me, for a long time after closing the last page.

[Abha Modi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a nice interesting book.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the summer of 1921 in Oklahoma, Water Darling is the story of Imogene Parker, aka "Rainmaker Jane". What starts out as a story about Imogene and her troubled and complicated profession, family, and love life quickly becomes a story about the events surrounding the Tulsa Race Massacre. I found the story compelling, but the storytelling style was unusual. There were no chapter breaks, but as the narrator shifts from one character to another (written in first person perspective) the change in narrator is indicated by a section of italic font where the perspective changes to third person. In the beginning these shifts happened infrequently, but the further into the book you go, the more often these shifts take place, adding to a sense of chaos and disorientation that accompanied the frantic and tragic events of the massacre. Many of the characters in the story were historical, but the main characters and their stories were fictional. 3 1/2 stars (4 stars for content, 3 stars for style).

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This qualifies as the oddest book I’ve read in a very long time. The formatting was confusing; I was halfway through the book before I figured out the purpose of the italicized sections. The lack of sectioning, chapters, etc. was distracting to say the least. There was also very strange sentence structure in places. I almost gave up on it several times in exasperation. Still the basic story was interesting but incredibly gruesome and graphically violent toward the end. The fact that the novel is based on a true story is horrifying. I haven’t decided if the social commentary was profound or simply naive. Also, the author got his characters’ names mixed up toward the end and referred several times to a male character by his wife’s name.

[Norma Rankin · Rating 4 out of 5]

E Enjoyed most of it

I enjoyed most of the 400 page novel, After reading the epilog I'm not sure if it was a novel. I'm guessing ths is probably based on the Tulsa riots that happened in the 20s. The last 70 or 80 pages were very hard for me to read, so full of violence and hatred based only on race

[Gene Archdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but long

This book has a good story line But there is no chapters. You start reading a d it is nonstop no division. No character division either. it changes characters with no break. You have to backup to figure what character your reading about. Story is good starts with events leading to the riot in Tulsa. Good red just weird how it is written.

[JenV · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had promise with an intriguing premise and 2 interesting main characters. However, this book fell flat for me. It was fraught with grammatical errors: apostrophes where they shouldn’t be, fragmented sentences, and swapping the parents’ names at the end. The alternating perspectives merging via a third person was more distracting than interesting. It took me too long to read this book.

[Lynn Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

As endearing as it was disturbing. The characters were rich and complex and the subject of rainmaking was fascinating. As for the Tulsa riot. I will never understand hatred like that. It's a cancer that eats people's souls.

The only thing I did not like about this book was it had no chapters! Made it harder to put it down. LOL!