The Water Is Wide - by Pat Conroy

About the Book

Reissued in trade paper, this is the first-person account of the year spent by the author teaching black children on an impoverished island off the South Carolina coast.

Book Synopsis

A "miraculous" (Newsweek) human drama, based on a true story, from the renowned author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini

The island is nearly deserted, haunting, beautiful. Across a slip of ocean lies South Carolina. But for the handful of families on Yamacraw Island, America is a world away. For years the people here lived proudly from the sea, but now its waters are not safe. Waste from industry threatens their very existence unless, somehow, they can learn a new way. But they will learn nothing without someone to teach them, and their school has no teacher--until one man gives a year of his life to the island and its people.

Praise for The Water Is Wide

"Miraculous . . . an experience of joy."--Newsweek

"A powerfully moving book . . . You will laugh, you will weep, you will be proud and you will rail . . . and you will learn to love the man."--Charleston News and Courier

"A hell of a good story."--The New York Times

"Few novelists write as well, and none as beautifully."--Lexington Herald-Leader

"[Pat] Conroy cuts through his experiences with a sharp edge of irony. . . . He brings emotion, writing talent and anger to his story."--Baltimore Sun

Review Quotes

"Miraculous . . . an experience of joy."--Newsweek

"A powerfully moving book . . . You will laugh, you will weep, you will be proud and you will rail . . . and you will learn to love the man."--Charleston News and Courier

"A hell of a good story."--The New York Times

"Few novelists write as well, and none as beautifully."--Lexington Herald-Leader

"[Pat] Conroy cuts through his experiences with a sharp edge of irony. . . . He brings emotion, writing talent and anger to his story."--Baltimore Sun

About the Author

Pat Conroy (1945-2016) was the author of The Boo, The Water Is Wide, The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes of My Life, My Losing Season, South of Broad, My Reading Life, and The Death of Santini.