Chasing Freedom

by Gloria Ann Wesley

The American Revolutionary War is being waged, and the fate of slaves in the colonies is on the line. Sarah Redmond, a slave on a South Carolina plantation, watches with a heavy heart as her father steals away in the dead of the night to join the British army, enticed by promises of freedom, land and provisions for his whole family. But before her father can return, the war draws to a close and the Loyalist slaves are all freed — including Sarah and her grandmother, Lydia. Uncertain of their future, Sarah and Lydia join the thousands who are rounded up and sent to New York to prepare for their journey to a new home somewhere in the British colonies.

After months of waiting, the Redmonds are assigned to a ship bound for the first all-black community in North America: Birchtown, Nova Scotia. With their Certificates of Freedom in hand, Lydia and Sarah wait anxiously, hoping beyond hope that their new life will bring acceptance and happiness. But once they reach Birchtown they find that their new home is barren, cold and isolated — and in a world slow to forget old fears and hate, their Certificates offer them freedom in name only.

Chasing Freedom is the story of a young woman struggling to discover who she is and what she can become in a world that offers her few opportunities. Can Sarah and her family find the strength and determination to persevere against all odds?

Selected for The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books for Kids & Teens 2012

Genres: Historical Fiction, Canada, Fiction

231 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[ATLANTIC BOOK REVIEWS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want to take this time to thank Gloria Ann Wesley for this book. I grew up in Shelburne County and was sadly ignorant of this part of Shelburne/Birchtown history for my entire growing up years. It was not until early adulthood that I heard SOME stories, but never like the story that unfolds in this masterful portrayal of the Black Loyalist settlers in Birchtown.

With vivid and unsettling descriptions Gloria Ann paints a picture of a Shelburne that I want to believe could never have been, but know is the truth. The price of freedom seems always to be tainted with the blood and even more especially for the black Loyalists that came to Shelburne.

Imagine coming to the land where you thought your life was about to change for so much better than the slavery and torture you had left behind in America only to land in Nova Scotia and be ordered from your ship and told to "take to the woods and do what you can to survive."

Gloria Ann Wesley has given me the chance to know a piece of my hometown's history that I might never have learned without reading this book. From the beautiful, but haunting cover, to the end, this fictional account of the struggle of one family to forge a new life through their sorrows and pains in a harsh new land will leave you breathless, anxious, and full of rage. As a reader you will be rewarded at the end of the book with a measure of hope that shines through in the beauty of human spirit to overcome and persevere.

I would be so happy to see this book as recommended reading in high school history classes.

"Freedom is not a reward. It is a right."

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book for my birthday and only just read it this past month. I'm always glad when I decide on a book on impluse I am rewarded. With this book I am amply rewarded. There must be thousands of stories to be told about Slavery, Loyalists and other Black history in Canada! Yes it isn't as strong and dynamic like books written about the black experience like in America. But it is a wonderful book for the history of Canada. The telling is powerful and the more you read the more you are swept along by Lydia, Sarah, Fortune, Reece, Thomas, Margaret, Amelia and all the people connected to them as a family. Their family troubles become yours and their joys and trials you share as tho' the family was your own. I look forward to reading more from Gloria Ann Wesley and I can't wait to read her poetry. This book is a great addition to books like The Book of Negores by Lawrence Hill. I rally hope these Canadian writers inspire another genreation of writers whether the next generation be Canadian writers or new writers across the globe.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the American Revolutionary War, the British Crown recruited black soldiers to fight for his Majesty’s army in exchange for their freedom and the freedom of their family. The recruits were promised land, provisions and ultimately freedom in British North America (now Canada). These promises appealed to many slaves who sought a better life for themselves and their family. This was the case for the father of 16 year-old Sarah Redmond, a slave on a South Carolina plantation. In the dark of night her father (Fortune) ran away to join the British army leaving Sarah and her grandmother, Lydia, to travel to the north in search of freedom. Along with other Loyalists, the two travel from South Carolina to New York City uncertain of what the future holds. Sarah dreams of the hope and promises that might come with freedom, turning a blind eye the inevitable challenges of both relocation and racism that still oppresses the black settlers.

In Gloria Ann Wesley’s Chasing Freedom, Sarah and Lydia eventually settle in the first black community in North America: Birchtown, Nova Scotia. They hold their certificates of freedom close at all times – not only for the significance but also to avoid trouble with the slave-catchers that were hired to retrieve former slaves and return them to their owners. Life in Birchtown is not as easy as Sarah had hoped as in addition to the slave hunters, her new home was barren, cold and isolated. The racist attitudes of the south were still present, and proved to be a great obstacle between Sarah’s dreams and reality. Will Sarah be able to pursue her own career goals or will racial oppression forbid her from achieving her them?

The plot is filled with suspenseful situations, from accusations of murder against Fortune to fires set to the buildings of black business owners in retaliation by the white population. Although the Loyalists were given many promises by the British government, few were actually granted. Many members of the black community starved to death, with inadequate food or shelter to survive the harsh Canadian winters. Most of the people had been slaves their entire lives and knew no other life. For a long time it was illegal for African-Americans to learn how to read or write, and their illiteracy put the community at an instant disadvantage. Community leaders faced many challenges in the pursuit of equality, not only in helping the people survive, but to also establish schools and churches (often the same building) to provide a promising future for their children.

Wesley attempts to represent some of the appalling scenarios that the black community faced in the late 18th century without making the story too grotesque for the young adult audience. The book has a dignity and emotional restraint that reflects the characters’ experiences. Sarah addresses this in the characterization of her grandmother, “She had trained herself to hold emotions back because crying was a sign of weakness. A weak slave made good sport for an overseer.”

Throughout Sarah’s journey in establishing a home in Nova Scotia, she begins to learn more about her grandmother’s troubled past. Although largely a mystery, Sarah knew that Lydia had faced a lot of torment throughout her life. After being captured from her home in Africa, her grandmother was sold to the slave trade and shipped to the United States. Lydia does not speak often about her past, but Sarah learns how important family and heritage are to one’s identity and, at times, sanity. Will Sarah and Fortune be able to reunite Lydia with all of her children so that she can finally find peace?

[Carol McKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars because it is about a black slave family who came to Nova Scotia in the late 1700s thinking it was going to be better - this turns out to be a great disappointment but Sarah, the granddaughter, manages to survive mainly because she refuses to give up and give in. But what a sad story, if this is what they call colonialism, then I agree, the ‘privileged’ white families in Sherbrooke made the lives of the blacks in nearby Birchtown a living hell.

I must get to the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre next summer - no excuses!

And I am keen to read now the follow up book by Wesley, “If This is Freedom”

[Laurie Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a choppy read, sometimes felt like things were rushed or thrown in last minute.

But a worthwhile story to be told.

[Jennifer N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read. Love the Nova Scotia connection.

[Katie Creelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was actually given to me to use with my social studies curriculum and is not necessarily one I would have picked on my own to read "for fun", but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Although it was a slow start I really enjoyed the story of Sarah and Lydia and the hardships they went through starting their new lives as recently freed slaves. it was neat reading a story set in my home province and knowing that sadly this was the life for so many during this time period.

This definitely was not a difficult read as it is recommended to use with my grade 9 students but it does jump around a little. Overall it was a different book from what I normally read, I learned something , and I think it's a story worth telling. I'd recommend it to you whether you had to read it for school or for fun.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good read, especially for those interested in this little-known part of Canadian history. Books like this and "The Book of Negroes" has brought the plight of the so-called 'free' slaves to light. This book is good for ages 12 and up, and while it reads like a YA novel, it has its moments of deeper thoughts and a hoped-for brighter future for these poor and abused people.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chasing Freedom is a story of Black Loyalists, slaves who fought in the American Revolution and were granted freedom in Birchtown in the late 18th century. See full review at http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/chasin....

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and somewhat unusual read for me. I loved the story and thought it was powerful and written with disturbing realism. At the same time, I had some issues with the way the narration was written and found the characters a bit flat and two-dimensional. That's the unusual part: I gravitate towards character-driven stories, so if I can't connect with the characters in a novel (and by "connect with", I mean find them compelling, not necessarily like them) and/or find them flat, it usual ruins the reading experience for me. Chasing Freedom is an exception to that rule. It's one of those rare books where the strength of the story was able to trump the issues I had with both the characterization and, at times, the prose. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in historical fiction about the black Canadian (and specifically, black Nova Scotia) experience -- especially young people, the audience the book is intended for. In fact, I would be deeply in favour of Chasing Freedom being integrated into the English and/or social studies program in Nova Scotia schools (assuming it hasn't been already).

Chasing Freedom takes place primarily in the real towns of Port Roseway (now known as Shelburne) and Birchtown, Nova Scotia (which are respectively a white settlement and a black settlement within walking distance of each other; under racism- and prejudice-free circumstances, they could by all rights have been a single community) during and after the American Revolutionary War. It follows the story of Sarah Redmond (in my opinion the book's protagonist, though the too-often-shifting, third-person omniscient narration makes that debatable) and her family as they move from being slaves on a South Carolina plantation to living as free people in Nova Scotia. Their lives are, needless to say, far from easy. As freed former slaves, the people of Birchtown are required to carry papers declaring them free at all times. (The white citizens of Port Roseway, of course, have no such requirements placed on them, 'cause racist bullshit.) Any failure to produce papers when asked by a white person can potentially result in the black person being declared a runaway slave, dragged back to the US, and getting forced back into slavery. Horribly, in the book as in real history, actually having papers does not by any means protect someone from being accused of having run away. And that's just one of the many dangers that Sarah, her family and the Birchtown community face. The novel is, to my knowledge, very historically accurate to when and where it takes place, which makes some of the things that happen -- especially, for me, the monstrous treatment that Sarah and her loved ones face at the hands of privileged, prejudiced and hateful white people -- deeply disturbing. But don't think this is a book without hope: Chasing Freedom has that in spades. The author, Gloria Ann Wesley, does a wonderful job of balancing hope and harshness, idealism and realism, in a way that makes the novel readable even in its most upsetting moments. It's a good choice for a YA novel, I think. Relentless harshness in a story can be too much for me as an adult sometimes, much less when I was a teenager. But Wesley keeps the balance so well that I didn't find that to be an issue.

Let's get out of the way the things I didn't love about the novel -- the things that make this a three- rather than four-star rating. As mentioned, I found the characters lacked some dimension at times and that the omniscient point of view shifted too frequently from one character to another. I feel like these things are related, and I think it could have worked better to use third-person limited narration with Sarah as the POV character. At the same time, I understand that Wesley sometimes needed to take us places where it could be difficult to justify Sarah going (e.g. her father Fortune's interview with Port Roseway's sheriff, to whom Fortune is trying to pass on information about a murder he had the misfortune to witness. It's powerful to see that scene through Fortune's eyes as its happening, and it's not remotely believable that he would take Sarah with him). So I can understand the choice to write the story that way, even if I might have preferred a different style.

I was also somewhat disappointed in the language used in the narration, especially as it compares to the beautifully written dialogue. George Elliot Clarke, a brilliant black Nova Scotian poet, is quoted on the back praising Wesley's ability to "...capture that sweet, special Africadian lingo, 'right to the marrow in the bones'." I would be lying if I said I am very familiar with that style of speech, but I have no reason to doubt that he knows what he's talking about, and I found the dialogue in the book beautifully written. The prose, on the other hand, felt too on-the-nose at some times and was rife with clunky metaphors at others. Interestingly, Wesley's background is as a poet -- and, somewhat counterintuitively, I wonder if that might be part of why the narration came off as somewhat forced. As far as I know, this is Wesley's first foray into YA novel territory. I've read YA novels by authors who've previously only written novels for adults that have had similar problems with the narration feeling oversimplified. Uncertainty about how to write accessibly for a tween/teenage audience is not an uncommon hurdle for writers used to writing for grown-ups, and in Wesley's case, I can understand how she might have felt particularly concerned about writing too poetically in her narration since her dialogue is already so lilting. But I tend to think young adult readers can handle more poesy than adult writers necessarily given them credit for. I hope Wesley will grow into her style as a YA author over time and become increasingly comfortable with letting her narration be as beautiful as her dialogue. She obviously has the skills.

My biggest issue with the book, however, was the editing. Oh, the editing. Fernwood, I know you're small, I know you're local, I know you probably don't have the most resources to work with as a publisher. But the lack of copyediting in this book should is frankly embarrassing to me as a fellow editor -- and that makes me wonder if there was editorial influence that contributed to the other issues I had with the book as well. It's easy to assume the author is at fault for every issue with a book, but there are times when an editor can unfortunately be more of a detriment to a novel than a boon. Given the teeth-grinding level of copyediting errors I noticed throughout the novel, I have to wonder whether the same editor worked on the substantive and line editing too, and if so, how much that influenced the aspects of Wesley's writing I've been critical of. (A great example of my problems with the copyediting is the capitalization choice made around the name "Boll weavil Carter", one of the book's main villains. Why lowercase the "w" in weavil, Fernwood? That's not generally how people's names are written, and since there was no clear reason for that choice, wondering about it snapped me out of the novel's world every time Carter was called by that name.)

And now, with that out of the way, let's get into why I think Chasing Freedom is an incredibly important novel, and one that every Nova Scotian kid (and ideally every Canadian kid) should read. Because Chasing Freedom delves with great historical accuracy into history that -- at least when I was a Nova Scotian schoolkid -- we learned absolutely nothing about in our formal education. Everything I know about pre-Africville (and realistically speaking, the vast majority of post-Africville) black Nova Scotian history, I learned after I graduated from high school, and little to none of it came from my formal education. Case in point: I am thirty, and it's only in the last five years of my life that I learned that the black Loyalist settlers from the Shelburne area existed at all. It's only in the last ten that I learned there were black slaves/"indentured servants" in Nova Scotia. No, what I learned as a (white, for the record) schoolkid was how wonderful Canada was for being the end point of the underground railroad, and how lucky former slaves were to end up here. Because clearly that was the full story and all any of us needed to know about Canada's history as it relates to a still-marginalized minority group.... >_<

That kind of erasure is disgusting and a travesty. Sadly, I'm inclined to assume that little, if anything, has changed since I graduated thirteen years ago. And this book... this book is an antidote to some of that ignorance. Chasing Freedom makes it clear how high the stakes are for its characters in maintaining (and wherever possible, building upon) their newfound freedom, because it pulls no punches when it comes to the horrors of slavery and the lasting effect those horrors have on its characters lives. The trials Sarah and her family face were so realistically drawn that I found myself deeply drawn in and emotionally involved in how all their lives would turn out (Sarah's, of course, in particular). Historically accurate and very readable -- those are about the two best qualities you can find in a historical novel that deals with sometimes quite disturbing subject matter. As well, Sarah and her grandmother, Lydia, are both female characters with huge amounts of agency, which made me like and appreciate the novel even more. It's awesome when a historical fiction author clearly recognizes that most women in the past weren't damsels in distress waiting to be rescued. Sarah and Lydia typically need and often want to do things for themselves; they value the men in their lives, but act like and want to be treated as equal parties in their relationships with those men. It's a lovely, much-needed counterpoint to the Twilight-style depictions of romance that show up in so much popular YA these days.

So, having gone on paragraphs longer than I quite intended to, I'll quickly sum up: Chasing Freedom is a good historical YA novel that is well worth reading. It has some issues, but those are outshone by its positive aspects. If you know junior high– or high school–aged kid who likes to read, consider buying them this book. They're very likely to enjoy it. (Further proof: Chasing Freedom was recommended to me by an actual, honest-to-goodness, modern-day teenager!) If you're interested in beginning to fill in any gaps in your own knowledge of black Nova Scotian history, consider reading this book yourself, no matter what your age. Chances are you will enjoy it and be glad you read it. I know I am. And I'm just plain glad this book exists. (Also, FYI, Wesley recently published a sequel, If This is Freedom, which continues Sarah's story. I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet, but I'm looking forward to it!)

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put it down. A well-written novel. I look forward to reading the other books this author has written. A very sad but true story!

[Catherine Eddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a wonderful book that is set in my home Province of Nova Scotia. I really came to love and care about these people. Made me smile, and at times very sad at how they were treated.

[Belva Bowden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating read! Easy to read and follow the story. A story about resilience and determination not to mention strong female characters to represent the strength of black women!

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the wake of the American Revolution loyalist (that is, pro-British) but enslaved people were offered opportunities to leave with the retreating British: many did so trusting their former masters over the newly empowered ‘loyalists’. Many of those formerly enslaved finished up in Nova Scotia, at Port Roseway (present day Shelburne) – although despite being emancipated they were forced out of town (emancipation in no way meant equal) to Birchtown, making it North America’s first all-black community. Gloria Ann Wesley’s novel deals with one family who made the journey out of South Carolina, fleeing the plantation system, chasing freedom.

At the heart of the story is Sarah Redmond, in her late teens as the story opens with the death of their loyalist plantation owner and the chance to escape with her grandmother Lydia and uncle and aunt; her mother dead, her father having escaped to fight for the British. The shift from the south to Nova Scotia was difficult – there was little if anything at Port Roseway, the whites claimed all the best land while with low literacy levels the formerly enslaved were at the mercy of their former owners and other whites who saw themselves as their betters. Supplies were limited and unjustly distributed and even the Black former soldiers received little if any of what they were promised.

Sarah is smart and ambitious; she wants her new-found freedom to mean something, to mean equality or at least opportunity. Lydia is more cautious knowing that those who formerly ran and enforced the slave system are still in many cases those with power; they are also often those with much to hide and as such are dangerous. The family faces many trials if it is to do well – or even survive.

Wesley weaves together the testing times of building a new world with the experiences and residuum of the old, as Lydia seeks the children taken from her (enslaved women were valuable because they made more labour and therefore more capital) while the hardships of Birchtown take their toll, and the dangerous, often embittered, whites of Port Roseway are a constant threat – not all though, some are supportive.

There is a powerfully moral undercurrent through the novel as Sarah explores and seeks justice and fairness. Wesley, primarily a poet, is deceptively simple and at times close to parsimonious with her words and language, making the novel seem in places simpler than it is: it is to my mind a sophisticated piece of writing presenting opportunity and hope, even if chasing freedom involves challenges and struggles, wrangling with the old and many starts at building the new.

This book had sat in my to-read pile for several years, after a hearty recommendation from a Halifax bookseller: it overlaps in part with the story of Lawrence Hill’s superb The Book of Negroes and I am glad I left it a while, but am also delighted to have read this engagingly optimistic novel.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom brought this back for me from her East Coast cruise. It has a great plot and learned a lot about a place and part of history that I really knew almost nothing about. I did struggle a bit with some writing style choices. For example, the reader is able to know what multiple characters are thinking, even within the same page sometimes, making it a little hard for me to "bond" with a particular character. But, it was an easy read and I would recommend it, especially to young adult readers.

[Duane Lowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story and it helped me to understand African Nova Scotia history. The book read like the author was still honing her novel-writing skills but once I got used to the somewhat choppy style, I enjoyed the book.

[Betty Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read of a slave family who was given freedom and brought to Nova Scotia after the patriarch fought for the British in the Revolutionary War. Sadly, life wasn't much better for them there.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book in a bookstore in Nova Scotia while on vacation. Interesting reading about a part of history in that part of the country that I didn't know much about.

[Amy Mathers · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://amysmarathonofbooks.ca/chasing...