Online Reading Challenge discussion

SUMMARY

The critically acclaimed and Whiting Award–winning author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman returns with Libertie, an unforgettable story about one young Black girl’s attempt to find a place where she can be fully, and only, herself.

Coming of age as a freeborn Black girl in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie Sampson is all too aware that her purposeful mother, a practicing physician, has a vision for their future together: Libertie is to go to medical school and practice alongside her. But Libertie, drawn more to music than science, feels stifled by her mother’s choices and is hungry for something else—is there really only one way to have an autonomous life? And she is constantly reminded that, unlike her mother, who can pass, Libertie has skin that is too dark. When a young man from Haiti proposes to Libertie and promises she will be his equal on the island, she accepts, only to discover that she is still subordinate to him and all men. As she tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman, Libertie struggles with where she might find it—for herself and for generations to come.

Inspired by the life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States and rich with historical detail, Kaitlyn Greenidge’s new and immersive novel will resonate with readers eager to understand our present through a deep, moving, and lyrical dive into our complicated past.
(Summary provided by the author)


AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Kaitlyn Greenidge's debut novel is We Love You, Charlie Freeman (Algonquin Books), one of the New York Times Critics' Top 10 Books of 2016. Her writing has appeared in the Vogue, Glamour, the Wall Street Journal, Elle, Buzzfeed, Transition Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Believer, American Short Fiction and other places. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University and the Guggenheim Foundation. She is currently Features Director at Harper’s Bazaar as well as a contributing writer for The New York Times. Her second novel, Libertie, is published by Algonquin Books and out now.
(Biography provided by the author)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• How do faith, religion, and ritual play into this story?

• Why do you think the author chose Libertie as the protagonist instead of her mother?
• The book chronicles three distinct stages of Libertie’s life: childhood with her mother Cathy in New York, college in Ohio, and marriage to Emmanuel in Haiti. Which section resonated with you the most and why? Which resonated the least and why?

• When her mother begins treating white patients, Libertie perceives it as a betrayal. Discuss Libertie’s feelings of betrayal and her struggles with rage.

• Discuss the notion of being “colorstruck.” How does it manifest itself in the book? How have you seen this notion in present day?

• There is a theme of passing and colorism throughout the novel. Libertie is dark, while her mother could pass for white. Discuss the biases and microaggressions Libertie faces because of her color and how her experiences di¬ffered from her mother’s.

• “You have too much faith in white folks,” Emmanuel Chase said. Lucien said, “You have not enough faith in colored people.” Discuss the opposing opinions of Emmanuel and Lucien.

• Libertie keeps a book with letters she writes to the lady in the river—why keep it? What did she hope would come of it?

• “Their bodies are here with us in emancipation, but their minds are not free.” Discuss how this quote applies to Mr. Ben Daisy.

• Where do you think this book fits in the national conversation around racism? Does it shift your perception, or how you will respond in those conversations moving forward?

• What did you think of Libertie’s relationship with Emmanuel? Was it a doomed romance from the start?

• Discuss the ending. What was your reaction to Libertie’s final letters to her mother and Emmanuel? What do you think Libertie’s future holds?
(Discussion questions provided by Hoopla)