A Fragile Freedom: African American Women and Emancipation in the Antebellum City Book

Dunbar captures such a fascinating demographic here and the progression from gradual manumission to free Black women of societal standing is seamless. Because the writing is succinct and on-point, there is little expansion on many of the hardships that were still happening so the reader must be be aware that the blinders are artificial and solely for the sake of the book's focus - not because other factors do not exist.

There are names included that almost everyone will recognize, but there are some lesser known names that we aren't always given a full explanations of. While I was reading this with a research intent, I think I would have been somewhat frustrated had I tried to read it without prior knowledge of the players. Which simply means I will caution other readers to be aware that some background knowledge is probably necessary.

That said, I can't think of a better way to become familiar with the players than to use this book as a companion guide for further study. I hope this book will become more readily accessible in light of Dunbar's recent bestseller about Ona Judge, "Never Caught."

To those of you who know I am a die-hard library user, you'll know I can't give a higher recommendation than the fact that after reading it, I bought my own copy.