What people are saying.
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In this spellbinding novel, Marilyn Higgins has interwoven the political complexities of the fascinating Reform Era of American history with the equally complex thoughts of family members who find their previously accepted certainties challenged by the rapidly changing social fabric of that time. When their search for identity connects them with the giants of the reform movement, they learn that their intense desire for social justice conflicts with the inertia of societal lethargy, thus illuminating the dilemma faced by reformers. Today, the book is a must read for those who strive to reconcile personal motives for social fairness with the self-centered passivity of contemporary conservative politics.
Norman K. Dann, Ph.D, Historian
Professor Emeritus Morrisville College
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New novelist Marilyn Higgins hooks the reader right away in Dreams of Freedom and maintains momentum as the reader engages with Aileen on her journey. The forward motion of the novel slows only when the reader hesitates to savor the author’s word-smithing. Higgins paints pictures with her words. She weaves her story fabric from the strong length-wise warp threads of history with her cross threads of her love of family, friends, and Central New York history.
Dorothy H. Willsey, President
National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum
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Marilyn has delivered an incredibly interesting book. This historical novel will increase our collective understanding of the positive and negative consequences of the Erie Canal's heyday. Numerous meaningful characters are presented in direct and concise manners, with all helping to reveal the very real complexities of the canal corridor and upstate New York during that period of our nation's history. In essence, Marilyn has written a must-read textbook for those reflecting on the injustices suffered by native Americans, women and people of color. The book skillfully balances these social complications with acts of human kindness, the promises of hope and freedom, and the pursuit of a more perfect union.
Bob Radliff
Executive Director
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
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Wow. tremendous job. This book reminds me of the Jon Jakes novels my mother shared with me so many years ago. Thank you for allowing me to read it.
William Ward Crossett IV
