Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge

 

Welcome Back, booklovers! This book was one of the releases I had my eye on all year so I was very happy to get a copy of the audiobook courtesy of Libro FM. If you're interested you can get it here. 

Libertie is written in a very lyrically style that immediately sucks you into the story. I loved her voice and thought the narrator did a great job capturing it. Despite it's Reconstruction era setting it's not very graphic in violence against Black people so if that usually deters you from picking up books set within that time period it's not a problem here.

This story starts with Libertie as a young girl living with her mother who is one of the few Black women physicians.  Her mother has big dreams of her following in her footsteps and teaches her from a young age to care for people. It was quite fascinating listening to the tales of her mother adding formally enslaved people within their community. One thing this book touched on was the ramifications slavery had on the mental state of those people. How they could be free but their mind is still enslaved. 

The discussions of colorism were also well done. Libertie's mother is a light skinned close to white woman and that afforded her the opportunity to move through spaces most Black people could not. It also caused the white women to be more trusting to her. When Libertie's mother opens a clinic originally for the freed people it slowly becomes a space for white women to seek care. Libertie and her mother end up at odds over this as the patients often recoil in her presence and her mother lets them treat her terribly instead of standing up for her. This complicated mother-daughter relationship takes place throughout the book with Libertie often vying for her mother's attentions in ways that don't just pertain to following in her footsteps.

Once she comes of age, Libertie is poised to attend medical school but while away realizes the dream isn't exactly for her.  Falling in love with a man named Emmanuel who is interning for her mother she decides to quickly marry. He sells her promises of a dream life in Haiti where they can create their own nation. This section touched upon the same anti-Haitianism that we still see present to this day. During this time Libertie must come to understand what it turly means to be a free woman.

This book was so addicting that at times I didn't want to stop listening. And it was surprisingly very easy to follow along while doing household tasks which is something I sometimes struggle with when it comes to audiobooks. I was cooking in the kitchen but fully engaged to this at the same time. This one is a very character driven story that is sure to keep you enthralled.