NEW TO LIBERTY

A novel told in three parts, New to Liberty showcases the growth and strength of three unforgettable women as they evolve in a society that refuses to. In lustrous prose, DeMisty Bellinger brings the quiet, but treacherous landscape to life, offering a snapshot of mid-century America and keeping readers guessing until the end as to how these three women are connected.

In 1966, teenage Sissily is on her way to California with an older man to begin a life together, when he insists on stopping at his family ranch in Kansas to see his mother. This family reunion is a painful reminder for Sissily about the truth about her own heritage and why she ran away, as she meets women who, decades later, are permanently scarred by the Great Depression.

In 1947, Nella's family relocates to Kansas from Milwaukee during the summer before her senior year, where she begins an interracial relationship with a white man called Lucky. They can only meet in secret, or as Lucky is in a wheelchair sometimes Nella pretends to be his nurse. When three white men stumble upon "Nurse Nella" one catastrophic afternoon, the violence of a racist society forces Nella to face the reality of their situation. At the height of the dust bowl and brutal jackrabbit roundups, surrounded by violence and starvation, Greta finds love with another farm woman. Their clandestine encounters will be unsustainable for obvious reasons but will have consequences for generations.

DeMisty D. Bellinger has an MFA in creative writing from Southampton College and a PhD in English from the University of Nebraska. She teaches creative writing at Fitchburg State University in Massachusetts. She serves as poetry editor at Porcupine Literary and Malarkey Books. DeMisty's writing has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including The Rumpus and The Best Small Fictions: 2019. Her chapbook of poems Rubbing Elbows is now available and her fulllength poetry collection, Peculiar Heritage, is forthcoming with Mason Jar Press.
www.demistybellinger.com