What readers think of Libertie, plus links to write your own review.

Reconstruction-era black freedman citizenship is explored, along with the significance of relative “blackness,” in reference to actual skin color. Freedom in general is the main theme (“Libertie”). A twelve year old girl -very dark-skinned - assists her light-skinned physician mother in her clinic, vaguely in the North. The father has died around the time of the girl’s birth.

The mother-daughter relationship is contentious. Libertie does not seem to have “agency,” and seems to be reactive to most situations. Her mother insists she aid in the clinic. Her mother sends her to college. Emmanuel pushed for marriage, and pushed for Liberty to move to Haiti.

Until the final chapters, Libertie as a person did not interest me. Only as she comes to grips with her life choices did she seem of interest. I found this book neither compelling, nor particularly interesting.