Blackwater: The Flood by Michael McDowell

Book Review

Sarah Deeming

Perdido, Alabama 1919. A flood has all but destroyed the town of Perdido, and the residents are camping at the local church, waiting for the waters to recede before they begin rebuilding. While surveying the damage from the safety of a rowboat, Oscar Caskey, a wealthy mill owner, discovers a strange woman hiding on the top floor of the hotel. Oscar takes pity on Elinor because she lost everything in the flood, including all her documentation. He and his uncle, James, help her get a job at the local school, and James offers her a room in his house rather than paying for a hotel room. Everything seems to be getting back to normal in Perdido, and Oscar and Elinor’s relationship begins to blossom into something more than just a friendship.

But Elinor is not all she appears and not everyone is as taken with her as Oscar. His mother, Mary-Love, in particular, has misgivings about Elinor and her intentions towards Oscar. When people start drowning in the river, an unhappy home might be the least of Oscar’s troubles.

Originally published in 1983, Blackwater: The Flood is being released in September 2024 for a new audience. I hadn’t heard of the series before, but the author’s pedigree as a screenwriter for Beetlejuice was enough to grab my attention.

The story starts after an epic flood that has covered the town of Perdido all the way up to the third floor of the hotel. Most houses are under the water, and the town is wondering how they will recover. Finding a stranger in the hotel is the most exciting thing in their lives at the time and a cause for much gossip. From the start, the reader knows there is something unusual about Elinor. We witness her odd behaviour in the water, and we know that she has drowned a boy who was watching her. While most of the town likes her, Mary-Love, Oscar’s mother and James’ sister-in-law, doesn’t and is openly dismissive and rude to her.  This builds tension as the reader knows what Elinor is capable of, while Mary-Love thinks she’s the most influential woman in the town, we know she can’t compete with Elinor.

The supernatural element is constant but low-level, which works well in this book as it is the first in a series which is very much a scene-setting story introducing us to the town and its way of life. The town is at the mercy of the river, and throughout the book, various options are discussed to mitigate the river’s risks, none of which appeal to Elinor. Between Elinor’s clash with Mary-Love, her disagreement with the town council about restricting the river, and the surprising cliffhanger the book finishes on, we are heading for a fight.

I enjoyed Blackwater: The Flood. It’s only just over 200 pages long, so it is not an extreme read, there is a varied cast of characters, all with little quirks, and themes ranging from romance, parenting, greed and family. The Caskey family saga is interesting enough for a series on its own without the supernatural element. Luckily, I am fortunate enough to have the rest of the series already, so I can go straight back into it where the cliffhanger left off. Highly recommended.