Rachel and Talia Fontenot are sisters born into brutal, rural poverty of southeastern Louisiana in the 1960s.

Raised with one another until tragic circumstances intervene and they are separated. Talia disappearing into a life of drugs and petty crime, Rachel fleeing to New Orleans. It is now present day and Talia has been missing for many years. Rachel in New Orleans is living what appears to be the perfect life, but underneath she is struggling with constant anxiety, prescription drug abuse and tremendous grief over the loss of her missing sister, as well as her oldest son to an accident several years earlier.

One night, she receives a call from a nurse she's not heard from since Hurricane Katrina. The information she is given sets in motion a series of events that will unravel. Rachel's life forced her to examine her past choices and takes her on a psychologically arduous journey to save her sister.

W. A. Schwartz writes short stories and novels of literary fiction focused on psychological suspense and interpersonal relationships. Her work has been given special mention by the itinerary journal Glimmer Train (2018) and has been long-listed for the Alexander Chee Short Fiction Prize (2020). Born in Berkeley and raised in both the US and the UK, Ms. Schwartz was educated at the University of California and LSU in New Orleans. She and her husband, a native of Baton Rouge, spent many years living and working in Louisiana. She holds a BS in biochemistry and an MD from the University of California. She studied literature at UC Davis and novel writing at Stanford. These days, she lives in Northern California with her husband and children. The Weight of Water is her second novel.