The Waters
Bonnie Jo Campbell's novel is set on an island called Massasauga in a Michigan swamp called the Waters, where the herbalist Hermine Zook treats neighbors with tinctures from the bog while her grown daughters and her granddaughter Donkey work out their own places in the family. Donkey, eleven and intensely curious, wants to understand the men who come to the island, the mother who left, and the science her grandmother distrusts. Campbell writes in long, lyrical chapters that move among the women, the swamp, and the small town across the bridge. Snakes, plants, and weather press into the story as much as any human character. The Waters is a novel about female knowledge, rural Michigan, and what it costs to hold onto a place.
What you might want to know about The Waters
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
On a swampy island in rural Michigan, three generations of women known as the Zooks live by their own rules and the local men's grudging respect.
Jenna Bush Hager chose The Waters as the January 2024 Read with Jenna selection on the Today Show, calling Bonnie Jo Campbell's swamp novel an immersive, atmospheric read and welcoming Campbell on the program to talk about rural Michigan.
On a fictional island called Massasauga in a Michigan swamp, modeled on the kind of wetlands Campbell has written about for years in her short stories and earlier novels.
The Waters was written by Bonnie Jo Campbell, published in 2024 by W. W. Norton & Company.
The Waters is 432 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Waters takes most readers 6 to 9 hours to finish.
The Waters is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
