Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana (aka The Runaway) by Melanie Dobson Review

 

I wanted to share my thoughts on this awesome book I just finished, Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana (also known as The Runaway) by Melanie Dobson. This was my first book by this author.

Anna Brent and her father are station masters on a stop of the Underground Railroad in Indiana, which is a free state. However, feelings on slavery and abolition are divided in their small town, the same as it is around the country. And feelings are also divided in the Quaker community. Some feel it is wrong to help slaves escape as they are their master’s property, and it is akin to stealing. Others who are against abolition are more worried about the economy and the impact freeing slaves will mean to the country. Abolitionists however don’t understand how anyone can think it is okay to own another human being. They see all to be equal in the eyes of God. There are those who are outspoken, like Daniel Stanton, the newspaper editor. And there are those who hide their true feelings as they help actually in the transport and hiding of runaway slaves.

The story is told mainly from Anna and Daniel’s points of view, along with Marie, one of the runaway slaves who found her way to Anna’s home. We see them struggle with knowing who to trust. And then things become more precarious as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is passed.

There is a lot of suspense and tension in this story as the reader wonders if Anna and her father will be found out, if the runaways will be discovered, and if even free black friends may get stolen back south due to the slave hunters’ lust for money and the slave owner’s rage at having slaves run away.

And then there is a bit of a love story as Anna and Daniel, both of whom have decided they should remain single, learn more about each other.

I read this book because I needed a story that includes the underground railroad for one of my reading challenges. And now I want to read more books by Melanie Dobson (this was my first of hers) and more about the Underground Railroad.

Definitely a book I recommend. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.