Freedom Dance
All of her life, Letty has struggled to fit in. There is the middle-class world of her parents, the white middle-class world of her friends, and the poverty-stricken world of her cousins. Letty’s five years in New York with the Alvin Ailey dance troupe challenged her to grow not just as a dancer, but as an African American, claiming her heritage. Now she couldn’t wait to get this cast off her foot and back to dancing barefoot with Alvin Alley. But an unexpected opportunity may keep her in Michigan.
Will she ever find her place in the world?
Ashley also struggles to find her place. At sixteen, she continues to assert her independence and upset the family dynamics as she challenges beliefs and paves her own path.
Book eight of the Dancing Through Life Series, Freedom Dance is a celebration of freedom—freedom to choose whom we marry, our profession, where we live. Freedom is bought at a price, Letty realizes as she learns about her ancestors, runaway slaves who came to Michigan by way of the Underground Railroad.
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Praise for Freedom Dance
Book eight in Patricia Robertson’s Dancing Through Life series, Freedom Dance, explores the question of freedom. Self-determination brings privileges and autonomy, whether it involves choosing a mate or a profession. But it also brings consequences which can be good or bad. In Freedom Dance, Patricia’s reoccurring characters–and several new ones–grapple with this double-edged sword.
In the process, characters delve into questions of faith. Where is God when the consequences of our choices are dire? Does God guide our steps in this dance called life, and how can we follow his lead? Patricia’s book definitely has Christian undertones, but it’s not preachy. She deftly shows how God can work all things–even conflict and loss–to the good for those who believe. Through it all, her characters’ steps and missteps form a kind of dance that finds its ultimate rhythm in the heart beat of a loving God.
I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book, but as a historian, I was especially drawn to the chapters that describe the past. In these chapters, Patricia explores the inner working of the Underground Railroad, that secret network that transported enslaved Americans from slave states in the South to Free states in the North and Canada. The trials and tribulations of these brave souls–both free and enslaved–are an inspiration that still speaks to us today.
As a bonus, Patricia offers readers “Discussion Questions” in the back of the book that lend themselves to private meditation or group studies–questions about free will, the relevance of history in our modern lives, and much more.
I highly recommend this book. – Linda Haas, author of The Michigan Crossroads to Freedom and Hidden in Plain Sight.