Freedom's Island

by Sabra Waldfogel

When Ambrose Byrd, retired Buffalo soldier, arrives in the all-black town of Willow Bend, Mississippi, he’s looking for peace, but he walks into trouble.

The town’s mayor, Jim Truehart, bought the land from his former master Hiram Little and transformed the Delta swamp into the best cotton land in the county. Now Little wants the land back, and he hires a man for the job that everyone in Willow Bend knows too well—former Klansman Benjamin Loveless, who carried out a massacre in the neighboring county ten years before.

Byrd thought he was done with being a soldier. But his friendship with Truehart—and his love for Truehart’s eighteen-year-old daughter Bernie—pull him into Willow Bend’s fight. As danger comes ever closer, Byrd decides to join with Willow Bend for battle.

Will it be a fight for freedom...or a massacre?

Genres: Historical Fiction

244 pages, ebook

First published June 14, 2015

About the author

Sabra Waldfogel grew up far from the South in Minneapolis. She studied history at Harvard University and received her Ph.D. in American History from the University of Minnesota and since then, has been fascinated by the drama of slavery and freedom in the decades before and after the Civil War.

Her short story “Yemaya” appeared in the Winter 2013 Fiction Issue of Sixfold. Her first novel, Sister of Mine, published by Lake Union, was named the 2017 winner of the Audiobook Publisher's Association Audie Award for fiction. In her free time, not tired of history, she collects antiques and helps her husband sell them.

Reviews

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this author, and I think this book was well written. It was just not my kind of story as it was mostly about the people preparing for, and fighting a battle. I'm sorry to say I lost interest. I will definitely look for her next novel though!!

[Nita Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

I read Slave and Sister first, and this was not nearly as good. Do think a man might like it better.

[Sharon Hagford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by this author and I am awed by the depth of her knowledge of Civil War and post Civil War history. Because of family problems it took me longer to read than usual. Otherwise I would have rad the entire book in one sitting. The characters are so real. I can hardly wait for her next book.

[Patricia A. Hoare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freedom by death

The War is over but the hatred is not. Massa can't stand the thought of blacks growing cotton in their own town and selling it to anyone but him. Sad to think what happens is based on truth

[Judith A Blaise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful

This is the second of Ms Waldfogel I have read. I just purchased her new one due to be released on Oct 1. I
I need to get cleaning ,washing and everything else done before that book comes out. I can't put them down. These are novels but they make this period come alive.

[D.K. Ricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

What a great story! It was hard to put down. The sad part is that black people only wanted their own and when they succeed., o thers want to take what you have. Fight for what is yours by any means necessary.

[Chet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing

To read a story where black people are the main characters and heros. This story is wonderful because it portrayed the b!back people realistically and probably under portrayed the Plan in this story. A good read.

[Mamie Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book summary

Book was good . Characters entertaining. Great story line . Never ending saga in that period of time. Love the togetherness that the people had to fight for what they had accomplished . Would recommend the book to others.

[Meeca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Syracuse love

I appreciate the constant reference to Syracuse throughout the books. That's my hometown and it never really gets recognition for the good.it has contributed to the world

[Dennis Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

This book held my interest from the beginning. The description of the planning and the actual battle was so good that it was like watching it happening.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved it

I just loved it. It left a cliffhanger. As did the other books called Sister of mine and fly away.

[Anna Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Freedom's Island

Great book. I love all your books. Keep up great writing. I had read this one before , it's great.

[Janet Reeves]

Not in Library

[Charlene Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great easy read..characters were will developed.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book!

[Renee Darden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ebook it detailed how a community band together to fight for the land they owned and would not give it up to greedy wealthy people.

[Odelia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected. Got halfway through and just could not finish this book. The descriptions killed it for me. Describing every branch, tree, grass etc....👎 I found it boring.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I loved Freedom's Island. Having said that, this was not an easy read. The indignities committed by one person or group on another person or group simply because she/he/they are different somehow should anger all of us with a soul or an ounce of goodness in our veins. And for such petty reasons: a nationality, a religion, a physical disease or mental illness, a gender, a race.

Ambrose Byrd has been a soldier, first for the Union forces, and then for the US Army for about 20 years. At first, even in the North, black men were not allowed in combat as soldiers, I suppose until things got bad enough that some generals sat around and said, "Hey, we have all these able-bodied men working with us...." and the rest was history.

Before that, he was a slave. The first time he ran away he got 10 lashes. The second time, he got 25 lashes and an "R" branded into his cheek for 'runaway'.

He's seen too much and done a few things of which he is not proud. Adjusting to civilian life after a career in the army can be rough on anyone. Ambrose travels with a comrade to that man's home in Mississippi and is surprised to find an all-black town, with a black mayor, no less.

But old prejudices die hard. The white former slave owner who sold the mayor (Jim Trueheart) swamp land wants it back now that he's learned Jim has turned it into profitable cotton fields. He feels it is his due. When black farmers bring in their cotton for him to gin, he cheats them on the price and weight of the product, because hey, they're 'only' black folks.

But there are more than racially motivated prejudices in Freedom's Island. When it becomes apparent that the town will have to fight to maintain, not only their land, but their lives, one of the better shots is forbidden to fight ... because she is a woman, and 18 at that. As a woman, that is hard for me to understand. If someone told me I could not do something because I am a woman, well, I'd have some choice words for them which I would probably have to repent of later.

But as a parent, part of me understands Jim and Ambrose forbidding Bernie (Jim's daughter) to fight. About the worst thing you can do to a parent is to put their child in harm's way. If you want to see the true meaning of 'going medieval on someone' (a la Pulp Fiction), mess with one of my kids.

While Freedom's Island is a work of fiction, some of the events in the book actually took place in the American South after the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression as some folks around here still call it). The story is amazing - and it will make you think.

When you reach the last page of Freedom's Island, and finally close the cover, you will sigh - partly in sadness because you still wonder what happens to Ambrose and Jerusha, Jim and Bernie and the other citizens of Willow Bend. But you also experience the deep satisfaction of having read a tale of incredible substance.

(Disclosure: I received a print copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)

[Meryll Levine Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the hands of Sabra Waldfogel, little known facts about the South post Reconstruction burst into life and provide a window into minds of many different kinds of Southerners—black and white, Christian and Jewish, poor and wealthy. Freedom’s Island allows the reader to feel the pain of the post-Civil War era and the continuing conflict that simmers beyond the 1865 for more than a hundred years.

Waldfogel’s mastery of dialogue brings the reader quickly into the mindset of the cast of characters. Her story features a fictional black town, Willow Bend, that refuses to be a victim of the white planter’s greed and power. It is a welcome change from the literature that, while sympathetic to the plight of the former slave, often rendered the freed slaves as victims rather than actors in their own lives.


The Historical Note at the end is well worth reading. I wish Sabra had included even more information about her research. The author has woven the history of the time period seamlessly into the novel mentioning Exodusters, the end of Federal Reconstruction in Mississippi, the white Democrats’ manipulation of the voting post Reconstruction, cotton prices, etc. Most of all, Freedom’s Island is a compelling story, difficult to put down.

[Hadley Barrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to get my hands on Sabra Waldfogel’s second novel – and it did not disappoint. It brought the same combination of fascinating history (based on little-known truth), suspense and action. It also showed a new and equally awesome side of the author. With this one, she proves she’s more than just a romance author – she’s got real breadth. Can’t wait for the next one!

[Loren Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read

Awesome book I wish if ambrose had marry
And which one he had chosen and what became
Of their land