Kaitlyn Greenidge, a prior finalist for New York Times Critics’ Top 10 Books for 2016, has once again awed her readers with her latest novel, Libertie. Inspired by the real-life Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward (the third African American woman to earn a medical degree in
…more the United States), the novel was selected being one of the 100 Notable Books of 2021 by the New York Times Book Review. Libertie is a narrative about coming of age during the Reconstruction Era and living in a free Black Community, now present day Brooklyn, New York.
The main character in the novel is young Libertie Sampson. She is the proud daughter of widowed mother, Dr. Catherine Sampson (real-life Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward). Libertie is Dr. Sampson’ only child and, therefore, constantly reminded of her mother’s vision for a future of the two of them working alongside one another. Through the support of the local Ladies’ Intelligence Society (LIS), Dr. Sampson opens her own practice in Brooklyn. (The real Dr. McKinney-Steward also co-founded the Brooklyn Women’s Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary.) Consequently, being the sole daughter child of an exceptional woman (and a forerunner of her time), is an overwhelming footstep to follow for young Libertie. Rather than being one who is exemplary like her mother, Libertie would rather enjoy a simpler life; a life where she can define her own freedom. Libertie is the narrator throughout the novel, and she is purposefully given the name, Libertie, by her mother. Throughout the novel, Libertie, wholeheartedly, tries to define what freedom actually means not only to her but for a young Black woman also. For certainty, Libertie wants to be free from her mother’s most stringent expectations.
Greenidge is clearly fascinated with the Reconstruction Era; and as a novelist, her fascination evidenced throughout Libertie. For instance, in one scene in the novel, the New York City draft riots are mentioned; where in 1863 white New York citizens protested new federal draft laws. White mobs made assaults on freed Black citizens and went as far as to set fire to an orphanage. Libertie witnesses the aftermath of the carnage from these riots when Black American citizens begin arriving on boats in Brooklyn’s harbor from Manhattan. From this personal account, Libertie becomes enthusiastic in helping her doctor mother in providing aid and treatment to these refugees in need. In this particular scene (and throughout the novel), Libertie continues to define the true meaning of freedom.
Kaitlyn Greenidge’s novel, Libertie, is one of great complexities that still allows readers to comprehend the full context of the story with simplicity and mixed emotions. This novel is intertwined with actual historical events, historical fiction, and coming of age during a period in United States history that is vaguely mentioned in great detail in history books. Readers of all backgrounds will relate to the characters and circumstances of Greenidge’s Libertie. Greenidge reminds us in Libertie the everyday intricacies and compromises that each of us make to find our true purpose in life; and to preserve a better life into our future that gives us even more freedom than that of what we have today.
[This review has been abbreviated to remove plot spoilers] (less)
