Libertie

Libertie is a 2021 novel by Kaitlyn Greenidge about a young African American girl growing up in the United States in the aftermath of the Civil War. Although it is a work of historical fiction, it draws on the life and experiences of Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, who was one of the first Black women to earn a medical degree.

Plot Summary

Libertie Sampson is an 11-year-old African American girl who lives in New York state in 1860. Her widowed mother Cathy defied the racism of the era to become a doctor. Now Cathy helps escaped slaves as they travel north toward their freedom.

One evening Libertie sees her mother help a man named Ben who arrives in a coffin on a carriage. Ben stays with Libertie and Cathy while waiting for his sister to arrive. However, he quickly outstays his welcome and is sent to a lodging house in town. While staying there, he begins to drink and pine for his lost girlfriend, Daisy. The local children nickname him “Ben Daisy” as he sinks into an alcoholic depression. Ben’s sister Hannah arrives and blames Cathy for her brother’s behavior. Cathy responds by trying to cure Ben’s problems with medicine, but her experiment fails. Ben kills himself and Hannah turns the local women against Cathy. Libertie realizes that she does not want to be a doctor, but she cannot tell her mother.

The outbreak of the American Civil War complicates Libertie and Cathy’s lives. The violence eventually comes to their part of the world as angry white mobs burn African American communities. Cathy and the other local women band together to provide help to the community, but Hannah poisons the other women against her. However, the women build a hospital where Cathy can provide aid to poor African Americans. When the war ends, Cathy must open the hospital to white patients to pay the bills. Libertie sees this as a betrayal. She works as a nurse in the hospital, and the white patients treat her badly because of her dark skin. When Libertie is accepted into college to study medicine, she agrees to go rather than stay and argue with her mother.

Libertie leaves for an African American college in Ohio. She stays with the family of her mother’s friend in a cramped house near the campus. As Libertie begins her studies, Cathy writes to her about the hospital’s success. She has taken on a young Haitian man named Emmanuel as an assistant. Libertie feels jealous. She dislikes her classes and makes few friends until she meets Louisa and Experience, two music students whose singing captivates Libertie. She spends more time singing with them than studying and performs poorly in her classes.

After being told that she cannot return to the college, Libertie organizes a concert for Louisa and Experience in New York. Libertie, Louisa, and Experience travel east. During the journey, Libertie realizes that Louisa and Experience are lovers. In New York, Libertie reunites with her mother and meets Emmanuel. While the group stays in Cathy’s house, Libertie begins to fall in love with Emmanuel and his dreams for a better, more equal Haiti. The concert is a great success, but when Emmanuel proposes to Libertie, an argument erupts between mother and daughter. Libertie accepts Emmanuel’s offer and they marry quickly, leaving for Haiti with an angry cloud hanging over them.

During the voyage, Libertie and Emmanuel consummate their marriage. When they arrive, Libertie is underwhelmed by Haiti. Emmanuel’s father and twin sister Ella live in a big house and are shocked by the news that Emmanuel is married. They treat Libertie with contempt. Emmanuel spends most days away from the house, leaving Libertie with Ella and the servant, Ti Me. The women regularly visit the market, but Libertie struggles to adapt to the local culture. She receives letters from her mother but only responds when she learns that she is pregnant.

Emmanuel tells Libertie that Ella is angry because she suffers from a trauma-related mental health issue. Later, Libertie learns that Emmanuel’s father sexually abused Ella and many other women. Emmanuel invented the mental health story to protect Ella but did nothing to stop his father’s behavior. During her pregnancy, Libertie becomes disillusioned with her husband’s beliefs. She moves to the cooking shed and refuses to return until a concert arrives in the city. Louisa and Experience perform, and Libertie welcomes them into the house. Before they depart, she hands them a letter for her mother. Libertie gives birth to twins and, as she explains in her letter, plans to escape back to America when she can. She tells Emmanuel he can join her so long as he is willing to accept her as an equal.