The critically acclaimed and Whiting Award–winning
author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman returns with Libertie, an
unforgettable story about one young Black girl's attempt to find a place
where she can be fully, and only, herself
Coming of age as a freeborn Black girl in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie
Sampson is all too aware that her purposeful mother, a practising
physician, has a vision for their future together: Libertie is to go to
medical school and practise alongside her. But Libertie, drawn
more to music than science, feels stifled by her mother's choices and
is hungry for something else—is there really only one way to have an
autonomous life? And she is constantly reminded that, unlike her
mother, who can pass, Libertie has skin that is too dark.
When a young man from Haiti proposes marriage and
promises Libertie she will be his equal on the island, she accepts, only
to discover that she is still subordinate to him and to all men. As she
tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman,
Libertie struggles with where she might find it—for herself and for
generations to come.
Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the
United States and rich with historical detail, Kaitlyn Greenidge's new and
immersive novel will resonate with readers eager to understand our
present through a deep, moving and lyrical dive into our complicated past.
