Let Me Liberate You

A Novel

By: Andie Davis

Narrated by: Ayesha Gibson-Gill

A restless New York artist searching for purpose returns to Barbados and stumbles into the role of activist in this scathingly funny and brilliantly observed satire about privilege, family discord, and performative do-gooding.

Dark, lanky, and bald, New York-raised photographer Sabre Cumberbatch can’t tell if she’s highly talented or just highly Instagrammable. Up to here with art critics and their gaseous praise, Sabre returns to Barbados, her childhood island home, to water her roots. She needs to quell self-doubt by doing something—anything—profoundly important.

Welcoming her with bejeweled open arms is her aunt Aggie, a fearsome high-society attorney eager to show off her famous American niece. When Sabre witnesses Aggie unleash her wrath on the household staff over a minor mistake, Sabre finds her cause. During an interview for a puff piece about art, Sabre goes off-script and takes a righteous stand against the tyranny of the ruling class—starting with Aggie.

Overnight, Sabre throws her family and an entire island into chaos. How many ways can the best intentions go wrong? They’re racking up. But tingling with purpose, Sabre is counting on the ways they just might go right.

©2024 by Clare Andrea Davis. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“A satire of class, race, and savior complexes.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Original, clever, imaginative, satirical, and memorable…Let Me Liberate You is exceptional and unreservedly recommended.” —Midwest Book Review

“A wild ride that kept me turning pages. Barbados and its culture are richly drawn with Davis’s deft wit, as is the fascinating cast that populates this astute debut. Sabre Cumberbatch—charmed and hapless by turn, always well intentioned—flees New York, the land of her artistic fame, and returns to her childhood home of Barbados with the simple aim of finding herself. Sabre is anything but simple, however, and it isn’t long before her magnetism and ambition provide a spark to an island that is primed to ignite.” —C. J. Washington, author of Imperfect Lives

Caribbean flavor well represented

Oh, I really enjoyed this book, the narration, and the overall storyline. The author did a wonderful job of describing place, and providing the reader a sense of the vibe of the area. I highly recommend the book.

Humor and Depth

Beneath the sharp characterization, precisely timed and delivered dialogue, and dead-on humor lies an intelligent, well-researched cross-cultural analysis brought to life in ways that only an author with lived experience could have rendered. The audio performance is a creative work unto itself. So deliciously layered is the nuance within Let Me Liberate You that readers and listeners will find themselves craving to feast on it again and again.

Poignant and hilarious story ~ Narrator nailed the multitude of characters in the book.

While some folks in my bookclub found it “too much” with a “too fast” ending, I thought it was superb—funny, intelligent, and perfectly leaving enough for readers to fill in.

Davis nails the returning ‘home’ diaspora experience through Sabre’s hilariously American “I can save you!” energy when she returns to Barbados. The cultural accuracy is spot-on, from family dynamics to class issues. Characters like Aunt Aggie, Iselda, and Ian absolutely steal scenes. Sharp satirical writing that hits different when you recognize these dynamics.

I listened to the audiobook—A-MAZING. The narrator, Ayesha Gibson-Gill, nailed the multitude of characters in the book.

The screeching

Not sure what this book is about but it takes place in Barbados and all the characters screech throughout the book.