When he was nine years old she was sold and taken over this same bridge to an unknown fate. Even though Hiram has the incredible gift of a photographic memory, he is unable to remember his mother. She was said to be the best dancer at Lockless. On the bridge, Hiram sees a vision of his mother water dancing, a type of dance in which a jug of water is balanced on the head. Hiram-called Hi for short-is driving a horse and carriage carrying Maynard and a ‘fancy,’ or prostitute, who Maynard hired. The novel opens on a bridge over the river Goose. Howell’s white son, Maynard, is his heir. Hiram’s mother, Rose, was enslaved, while his father, Howell Walker, is the white master of Lockless. The protagonist, Hiram, is an enslaved black man who was born and raised on a huge estate called Lockless, in Elm County. In this slightly-different version of the antebellum South, the enslaved are referred to as the Tasked, while their white masters are known as the Quality. The Water Dancer is set in Virginia during the time of slavery.
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