A Picture of Freedom by Patricia C. McKissack

In 1997, the book was adapted for television by HBO for their Dear America miniseries.

Clotee dies at the age of 92, and the book ends with the quote from her gravestone: 'Freedom is more than a word'. She also keeps up correspondence with William Henley, who becomes an abolitionist as well. Clotee eventually runs away we later learn that she has become a teacher. Clotee comes up with a plan so that Mr Harms didn't get arrested. When Ely Harms is driven off the Henley Plantation, Clotee takes his place as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Clotee always finds a way to decline and Lilly soon gives up, taking another housemaid under her wing and trying to turn the household servants against each other. Mistress Lilly often tries to make Clotee her little pet, claiming that Clotee's mother was a very good friend of hers. Clotee's father is not present in the story as he drowned in the river before she was born. Clotee's mother was Lilly Henley's personal maid, but Master Henley forced his wife to sell her maid Clotee's mother later died far from her daughter. Mistress Lilly Henley is a weak, foolish woman and a disinterested mother. While Master Henley never whips or beats Clotee in the book, he does strike Spicy across the face in the final chapter. Spicy is also in love with Hince, the person who Clotee calls her 'brother-friend'.Ĭlotee and Spicy are the property of 'Mas' Henley,' a cruel man. Clotee later writes in Spicy's Bible, the only keepsake that Spicy has from her mother, that Spicy's name is actually Rose. Spicy desperately wants to change her name to Rose (the name her mother picked out for her), but is forced to accept the name given by her owners. Clotee's best friend on the plantation is a very strong girl named Spicy.

A Picture of Freedom by Patricia C. McKissack