This isn’t necessarily a story that you will know.
Penguin Books, 1993
And nor are you expected to.
“We all know how history comes down to us, which stories, which versions tend to be passed on.”
But here, in Free Enterprise, in a novel, we might find another version of truth.
As Jessamyn West writes: “Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.”
So it’s possible that readers will find things in Michelle Cliff’s novel that reality has obscured.
“The truth, I suspect, lies somewhere in between. It usually does.”
But even there, the narrator wonders whether anyone will have heard these women’s stories:
“In years to come, will anyone have heard them – our voices?”
Mary Ellen Pleasant’s story – her voice – might not be as readily recognizable as, say, John Brown’s.
And yet she played a vital role in his abolitionist activities. In fact, when he was arrested after the Harper’s Ferry incident, a note from her was found in his pocket.
The offer of her additional support was signed M.E.P. but the initials were misread as W.E.P. so she was not officially implicated in the events, although her involvement was well-known in the day, as was her work with the Underground Railroad.
The roots of resistance run deep, and Cliff’s prose is poetic, creating a mythic air to the story which reaches back in time.
“We wanted to avoid bloodshed, which bloodshed was becoming inevitable with our growing realization that these Englishmen did not simply wish to visit us, to ‘discover’ us, as they put it. They wanted to own us, and the islands, tame the landscape to their purposes, tame even the slopes of Kilauea. Now what would Pele have done about that? We had to save them from themselves, and us from them.”
Art plays a vital role in revolution.
“I was grateful that the artist had portrayed it thus, indicating the horror of the thing aslant, by these few members, and a reminder of their confinement, the irons which would take them down. It got to me, all right.”
But too often these fighters are left out of the history books, lost even to memory.
“I am drawn back into my own peculiar past. I look out over the blackness of the water, and find myself not on the high seas, heading for the Vineyard in 1874, but see a girl, as clear as day, a young woman, participant at Chatham, captivating. You. Listening to Mary Shadd Carey urge us on in the colored schoolhouse where so much of the planning took place. You in your mannish overalls, your face darkened, but you could not hide your eyes. Where are you now, Annie?”
Free Enterprise is a slim novel, made heavy with meaning.
Having recently finished A Measure of Light, I have put a hold on this one at the local library. It sounds like another excellent read revealing history that got missed when I was in school. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
It definitely adds another layer to the record. I think you’ll enjoy it a great deal!
Funny — I thought of the McBride book too, having listened to Eleanor Wachtel’s interview with him on Sunday. I like those pairings.
I’ve never heard of Mary Ellen Pleasant, but now I want to read her story!
This is one I’ve had on my shelves for many years, but I’m pretty sure I hadn’t known of her either, before buying the novel.
This sounds intriguing. I remember Michelle Cliff from her long association with Adrienne Rich and her critical work was an important part of the feminist discourse when I was a student. I’ll look for this book. “A slim novel, heavy with meaning.” Perfect.
And besides her scholarly work, apparently there are a few other novels as well. If one had an interest in fictional versions of the historical events of the day, I think it would be neat to read James McBride’s The Good Lord Bird alongside Free Enterprise. His prose is lyrical, too, but not in quite the same way: both very strong voices to shed light on previously silenced voices.