“Libertie” by Kaitlyn Greenidge

Published by Algonquin Books

Finished 2/15/22 – 3/5 stars

 

I decided Black History Month would be a great time to pull this one off the shelf and read it.  It’s the story of Libertie, a free black young woman living in New York after the Civil War.  Her mother wants her to follow in her footsteps to become a physician, but Libertie would like the freedom to make her own choices in life and follow her own dreams.  She then meets a Haitian man who promises her a wonderful new life in Haiti but the life she finds there is far from the freedom she desires. So although she was born free, she continues to find herself chasing true freedom to find her own happiness. 

 

I thought this book had great promise for the first half, while in the United States. Once the storyline moved to Haiti, I felt like it lost something. I truly can’t put my finger on what it was, I just preferred the first half over the second. I still enjoyed it and thought it was a good book, just not one of my favorites.