Rating: ⭐⭐⬜⬜⬜
Title: Libertie
Author: Kaitlyn Greenidge
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author Info: She/Her
Setting: Brooklyn, NY & Jacmel, Haiti
Month Read: April 2021
Book Type: Hardcover
Publication: 2021
Pages: 336
*Book of the Month (April Pick)
TRIGGER WARNING-
Death/ Racism/ Violence/ Suppression/ Childbirth/ Suicide
"The only good poem I've ever written is you. A daughter is a poem. A daughter is a kind of psalm. You, in the world, responding to me, is a song I made. I cannot make another."
No Spoiler Summary:
Libertie is a novel about the title character longing for freedom in a world built to keep her repressed, whether it be because of her skin tone, or because of her sex. Libertie has to get out of her mother's skirts (a Black female doctor longing for Libertie to follow in her footsteps no matter the cost) to learning that her husband won't give her the freedom she needs because she is a woman, and a wife.
Libertie strives to make her own path, but in doing so ensnares herself in traps she has a hard time escaping. Will she be able to follow her heart to become the empowered, free woman she dreams of being? Will she be able to let people down in order to find her own happiness?
Review:
I've rarely read a book written as beautifully as Libertie is written, the poetry is gorgeous, and you can see everything that Kaitlyn wants you to see. You can practically feel the grass, the flowers, the sweat, and the water of Haiti. I thoroughly enjoyed the research she did into all of her subjects as well- the war, being a doctor, the science of flowers and herbs, Haiti, 1800s NY. It was truly a gift.
As much as I hoped the writing would carry me through the book, I was so bored. Libertie doesn't want as much for herself as the reader wants for her, and it left me so incredibly frustrated. By the time she decides to do something for herself the book is over. I was so disappointed.
If I could have picked another book for my book of the month box, I would have. This was made to seem like an incredibly fun, feminist, historical fiction novel and just didn't do it for me. If you've read and loved Libertie- let me know! The reviews are so scattered on Goodreads, and I'd love to see a different take.
Recommendation:
For lovers of historical fiction:
*The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
*The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
*Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
For books with strong female characters defying authority:
*Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
*The Color Purple by Alice Walker
"My mother's scrutiny was a burden. But this other way of looking, this besottedness, was just as damning. My mother expected great things and constant improvement. He seemed to believe in a perfection that existed apart from my actual self"
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