A Suffragette's Journey to CubaHenry Holt & Co. 2010
HC - $16.99
library 813.54 En35f
151 pages, with resources
Rating: 4
Written in verse form - and from four different points-of-view, we learn of Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish socialite that decided, in the mid-1800's, to travel the world and learn about women's rights in those different places. She is in Cuba for this story, staying with a rich family and being accompanied by a young female slave because Cecilia has a head for languages and can translate.
Cecelia is a slave, sold by her father and far from her African homeland, now 15, married, and pregnant. She is a valuable commodity because of her language skills, but she has "lung disease" and we never find out how she and her baby survive.
Elena is the daughter of the rich Cuban landowner, also a slave in a way, for she can never leave her house...having no freedom at all in her own land.
Frederika loves the beauty of Cuba but hates the oppression of slavery and women.
We hear these voices. We see this firefly-laden country, which all three women seem to love. This book gives us some insight into Cuba, and makes us look at slavery, realizing that its oppressive wings spread even more far and wide than we'd like to realize. And it introduces us to a woman that I'd like to learn more about, Fredrika Bremer. However, I kept waiting for the story to grab me, pull me in. For some reason I was never really pulled in. Maybe it was the mood I was in when I read it....for it's short and I read it in one big swallow. If there's more talk about it, and there's been a bit of talk, I'll read it again in another few months.
No comments:
Post a Comment