The best historical novels about early American Black life touch on African diasporic spiritual culture, and Libertie is no exception. Greenidge evokes the reality of African diasporic cultural interplay in the breadth of Dr. Sampson’s medical interests and glimpses into the supernatural. Additionally, she explores the nature of Pan-Africanist nation building by touching on the lives of Blacks who were lured to Haiti from the United States throughout the nineteenth century because of the country’s legacy as the first independent Black nation in the western hemisphere. In one conversational setting, Libertie wonders at the nostalgic perspective her female peers have about America now that they are in Haiti trying to effect change. She introduces the issue of lynching to remind them that the grass is not always greener across the ocean: “There are men following the law right now whom white men string up on trees for exercising their rights.” Libertie finds herself immersed in a vastly different reality while traveling abroad, working to comprehend the politics of a newer generation of Haitian politicos while simultaneously gaining access to the deeper mysteries of orishas and the cultural rituals of Vodun.
In her novel, Greenidge covers a lot of historical and cultural ground, curating a journey for Libertie that culminates in a level of wisdom remarkable for her age. I am giving nothing away when I say that the payoff resonates beyond the final lines of Libertie’s tale and a desire to see mothers and daughters reconciled despite divergent dreams—a desired reconciliation that transcends time and is still relevant today.