Margaret Morgan is late returning from town, where she was purchasing supplies for her seamstressing business. When she reaches home, she hears two unexpected voices. One is the town constable. The other is the man who had been her neighbor in Maryland. It's not a social call, for bounty hunger Ed Prigg accuses Margaret of being a runaway.She and her three children are threatened with being sold into slavery—even though each of them is free. So opens Jessica McCann's compelling and gripping debut novel, All Different Kinds of Free (Bell Bridge Books, 2011).
At first Margaret is more stunned than afraid. Why would Mrs. Ashmore, the woman she'd worked for as a free black woman, set a bounty hunter on her trail? In the beginning, the law is on Margaret's side. Eleven years earlier in 1826 the state of Pennsylvania passed a law requiring bounty hunters to provide proof of ownership. Prigg doesn't have any.
When the matter goes before the local justice of the peace, he dismisses the case, even though Margaret, free from birth as the offspring of freed slaves, doesn't have any papers of manumission. Only her husband, a slave who bought himself out of bondage, has written proof. Their two older children were born in Maryland, a slave-holding state, but to a free mother. Only their youngest, Emma, was born in Pennsylvania; that makes her the "freest" of all.
Pennsylvania sees them as citizens. Maryland sees them as property. And with that, Prigg vs. Pennsylvania becomes a prelude to the Civil War as people from all walks of life begin questioning the role the federal government should have in states' rights.
Despite the court ruling, Margaret and the children are taken to Maryland and kept in jail, supposedly for their own protection, while lawmakers and enforcers in both states join the debate. While in jail, Margaret decides to sue Mrs. Ashmore for her freedom. When she appears in court, those who testify lie and Margaret isn't awarded a lawyer or given a chance to speak. The ruling? Margaret and her children will be sent to the auction block.
You'll weep with Margaret as she watches first one then her other son sold away. Because Emma is only 5 years old, she's allowed to be sold with Margaret, who is bought by a master who wants her for only one purpose—to mate with a brutal "stud" and become a breeding woman.
As Margaret and Emma slave for their master, their case goes before the Supreme Court, which upholds Maryland's ruling. Margaret starts to lose hope until she begins receiving letters via an underground route from a surprising source. The ending will leave you weeping and cheering.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
All Different Kinds of Free was awarded the 2009 Freedom in Fiction Prize. As a novel in progress, the work also was a semi-finalist in the 2004 Dana Awards and the 2005 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing competition.
Learn more about Jessica at www.jessicamccann.com, http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/AllDifferentKindsOfFree and https://twitter.com/#!/JMcCannWriter.
All Different Kinds of Free is available in both paperback and Kindle versions.
WIN A COPY OF ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF FREE
Would you like to have your own copy of this modern-day classic? Here's how you can enter for up to eight chances to win one of two copies of the print version or one of four copies of the ebook—epub, PDF or mobi format—for a total of six copies to be given away:
+1 Become a new follower. (+2 If you're already a follower.)
+1 Subscribe to Bird's-eye View. (+2 If you're already a subscriber.)
+1 Tweet this contest.
+1 Follow my tweets.
+1 Post this on your Facebook wall.
+1 Like my Facebook fan page.
Then comment on this post with your point total and e-mail address! The contest will be open until midnight Sept. 3, and the winner will be announced the week of Sept. 4.
Be sure to watch for Thursday's interview with author Jessica McCann.
What is one of the most moving books you've ever read?
21 comments:
Interesting
This sounds like a great book! Thanks so much for posting this... I hadn't heard of it... :)
Sounds like an interesting book, a different kind of book.
Oh I love historicals like this!
I actually had seen the cover somewhere else, but this is the first time I read about the book.
Thanks for letting us know about Jessica's book! :D
Thank you so much for your kind words about the loss of my Bridger. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.
This sounds like a great read. I'm not a tweeter, but I'm a follower, subscriber, posted on FB, and liked your fan page. Put me in for +6 please. I'd love to read this book.
I can only imagine the amount of research that went into writing this book. It sounds like a heart-rending book, the kind I hate to read, but the kind I can't stay away from.
@Kelley, **waves**
@LisaAnn, having read part of your WIP, I think you'd appreciate Jessica's book very much.
@Richard, I'm blown away by the amount of research Jessica did as well as how smoothly she brings it all together.
@Monica, I love the photo of the woman on the book's cover--beautiful!
@LisaAnn, you and Bridger will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. My husband sends his deepest condolences as well.
@Rosi, I have you down for six entries! Having read your manuscripts and seen your TBR list, I know you'll love this book as much as I do.
@J.L., I think this book would blow you away, especially the ending. Jessica, like you, is phenomenal.
No matter how well written this type of book seems, I won't read it unless I must. These types of books depress me so badly I can't stand it.
I wish you luck with it. For those that like books in this vein, people should enjoy but its not for me.
I've read all I can of these books when I was a Lit major. Too sad for me.
T
This definitely sounds like and interesting read. Thank you for sharing about it today and for the lovely giveaway opportunity.
+2 old follower (Denise Zaky)
+2 email sub
+1 twitter ZDz59001
+1 FB
+6
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
Oh my Gosh, I'm getting slightly depressed just reading that, and slightly angry. Talk of slavery always makes me angry, because it's such a simple concept that I don't understand how people don't get it. Everyone is the same! Adaption just made African Americans have different skin.
I have +2.
Wow! This sounds terrific!
+2 - already a follower
+1 - subscriber (would have done that before if I had noticed it!)
+1 - like you on FB!
Wow, this sounds like a fabulous book. Thanks, Michelle for bringing Jessica and her book to our attention.
@Tirzah, I remember having to read Albert Camus' The Stranger and thinking it was just about the most depressing book for a teenager--or anyone for that matter--having to read. I might have respected the book more if I hadn't had to read it. :)
@Denise, it's good to see you; I have you down for six entries!
@Brooke, I know exactly how you feel; trying to understand hate crimes stemming from racial prejudice led me to writing my first novel, The Underground Gift. BTW, I have you down for two entries.
@Susanna, thank you so much for stopping by! I have you down for four entries.
Wow, super intriguing blurb! Wish I could write as succinctly as that:)
Just reading the blurb was powerful enough for me to sit back and go, "Wow, that was intense." This sounds like a wonderful, painful, eye-opening read.
@Jeanne, I think this book will resonate with you and that you will appreciate it greatly.
@Mark, would you believe I've always considered myself review challenged, even after I had to review plays for a daily newspaper? Your words brightened my day!
@Marlena, the beauty of the book is how Jessica develops Margaret Morgan's character in such as way that helps us overcome the book's pain-filled moments and instead fills us with strength and hope.
This book sounds both amazing and heartbreaking. I wonder how difficult it must have been to write.
I'm definitely in for a chance to win a copy!
Already a follower +2
Already a Subscriber +2
Tweeted +1
Already Follow you on twitter +1
FB. You are now offically "liked" by me. +1
Hello! I'm already a follower.
Gosh thats a tough question .. I'll narrow it down to this year 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' wow and (see I can't narrow it down to one) 'Half the Sky' which moved me so much I have had to put it down half way through.
@CherylAnne, knowing how many writers excel at empathy, it must have been heartbreaking at times for Jessica. I have you down for seven votes, and thank you very much for tweeting the review!
@Michelle, with a comment like that, you know Half the Sky has just moved to the top of my TBR list. And I have you down for one vote!
Michelle, thank you so much for reading my book and for writing such a detailed, wonderful review. I'm so touched and humbled by all the things you've said about me and my book.
Thanks, too, to everyone who has commented. I wish you could all win a copy! I appreciate all the interest and thoughts you've posted. Please also check out my interview that Michelle posted today. If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask. I'll be checking in periodically to visit and respond.
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