Trouble The Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff

Trouble The Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff

"Before this decisive night, I'd not fully appreciated the subtle line between inspiration and insanity. But now, with all our lives at risk, I found myself navigating that most perilous edge…"

Inspired by the life of an unsung American hero and slave, Trouble the Water navigates the rich tributaries of courage, betrayal, and redemption. In his inspiring journey, Robert Smalls witnesses great privilege and suffering alongside his owner's daughter and the dangerous son of a firebrand secessionist. At the age of twelve, he's sent to work in Charleston, where he loads ships and learns to pilot a cotton steamer. When the Civil War erupts and his cotton steamer becomes a confederate warship, Robert seizes the opportunity to pursue freedom for himself and the people he loves.

Robert Smalls is one of America's great unsung heroes, and Trouble the Water finally brings his story into the light. Perfect for fans of The Invention of Wings, Homegoing, The Underground Railroad

"With this stunning debut novel, Rebecca Bruff establishes herself as an exciting new voice in historical fiction."- Cassandra King Conroy

"Debut author Rebecca Bruff has made her mark with this exceptional examination of family, freedom, and what it really means to fight for the light." — Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of Perennials

Rebecca Dwight Bruff was born in Amarillo, Texas – which she remembers as flat, brown, and dry, and later moved to the Dallas suburb of Richardson – which she remembers as flat, a little less brown, and humid. Bruff earned an education degree at Texas A&M and Master and Doctorate degrees in theology (Southern Methodist University. An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and served several Dallas area congregations, focusing on spiritual formation and cross-cultural partnerships. Rebecca has organized and led numerous youth and adult work teams in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Louisiana and international teams in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, Russia, Nigeria, and the Taizé community in France. She says she’s better at getting people out of the church than in it.

After writing hundreds of sermons, lessons, wedding homilies, and funeral eulogies, Rebecca heard the story of Robert Smalls on her first brief visit to South Carolina in 2013. She was so captivated that in 2017 left her job and moved across the country to research and write this extraordinary man’s story.

Trouble the Water has received First Place/ Gold awards for Debut Novel and Adult Fiction, and a Bronze award for Historical Fiction from The Feathered Quill Awards, and First Place/Gold in Fiction from American Bookfest, and most recently the 2021 International Grand Prize for Best Book from Chanticleer Reviews.

Rebecca and her husband Tom – and their silly golden retriever Bentley - are at home here in Beaufort – enjoying the beauty of water, trees, birds, and the gentle pace of the lowcountry.

She now serves part time at the Carteret Street United Methodist Church and volunteers at the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina. She's published a children’s book, Stars of Wonder, inspired by her own wondrous grandkids, as well as the non-fiction Loving the World with God, published by Upper room Books.

Rebecca believes deeply in the power of stories to inspire curiosity, cultivate empathy, and catalyze change. Every story matters.