The bridges of freedom

A Place Called Freedom ( A Place Called Freedom , 1995) is a historical novel by Ken Follett and is about a Scottish coal - mate and a Scottish nobleman in search of freedom.

prehistory

The action begins in the winter of 1767 in the fictional mining village of Heugh in the Scottish Lowlands . Malachi Mack McAsh, the firefighter from the local coal mine, protests against the landowner, Sir George Jamisson of Fife , during a mass . He tries to convince the other villagers that the practice of the payment of arles , a payment translated as hand money to the parents of a newborn child in order to bind him as a serf for life to the mine and the landowner, has no legal basis.

First part

Scotland

After the incident in the church, Sir George tries by all means to prevent a revolt by the miners. He has Mack captured, who, however, manages to escape from prison and from Scotland. He gets help from Elizabeth Lizzie Hallim, a noblewoman from the neighboring High Glen, who pulls him out of the ice-cold water of the river. In the meantime, problems within the Jamisson family are also becoming apparent. Sir George's younger son, Jay Jamisson, is constantly disadvantaged compared to his older brother, Robert Jamisson. And instead of a hoped-for share in his father's large trading company, Jay only receives a horse for his birthday. Deeply offended, Jay tries to shoot his brother from behind while hunting deer, but is stopped at the last second by Sir George. However, Jay remains a triumph. He wins the love of Lizzie Hallim, whom Sir George actually wanted to marry his eldest. With the help of his mother, he hopes to be able to take over part of his father's lucrative business as a wedding present.

Second part

London

After fleeing Scotland, Mack settled in London . But even here the coal does not let go of him. He becomes a coal extinguisher and unloads the ships that bring the coal to the capital via the Thames . As a prize boxer, he improves his small wages a little. After suffering a heavy defeat, it is again Lizzie Hallim who stands by his side. She pays a doctor to help her childhood friend. Lizzie, now engaged to Jay, has come to London, where Sir George has his trading headquarters in Grosvenor Square . Mack is now clashing with the owners of London inns. The most powerful of them is Sidney Lennox, the host of the frying pan. The landlords organize the extinguishing of the coal, earn a lot and thus reduce the workers' wages. Mack tries to organize the extinguishing of the coal himself. Since the workers are now working more effectively than among the innkeepers, they succeed. They also earn a lot more than before. But since Jay has high gambling debts with Lennox, he assures him of his help. Sir George owns many of the ships that bring coal to London. and he can also convince the other owners to return to the old system with the innkeepers.

However, the coal extinguishers organize a strike and Mack becomes the center of the strike movement. Mack is trapped by the Jamisson family and will be tried on charges of violating the strike law and is due to be executed. But again Lizzie stands up for him and since Sir George does not want a quarrel in the family, he stands up for Mack and this is deported to America. Lizzie and Jay receive the Mockjack Hall tobacco plantation in Virginia as a wedding present from Sir George. He received the bankrupt plantation because the owner could no longer repay his debts to Sir George.

At this point, however, Lizzie does not yet know where Sir George's generosity comes from. And she is so looking forward to a new beginning in America that she doesn't worry about it. But Sir George has big plans. His trade with America is no longer going well and there is almost nothing left of his wealth. That's why he wants the land of Lizzie, under which lies an immeasurably large coal deposit. However, since Lizzie does not want to agree to coal mining, she is supposed to be as far away from home as possible in America, while her husband Jay approves coal mining in High Glen behind her back and transfers the land to his father.

third part

Virginia

After a long crossing, Mack, Lizzie and Jay arrive in Fredericksburg , Virginia . However, while Lizzie and Jay use the owner's cabin, Mack has to spend the crossing below deck with countless other petty criminals in the smallest of spaces. Once in America, Mack is not free again. He is sold as a slave and ends up exactly where he least wishes: as a slave to the Jamisson family. As does Sidney Lennox. He was also deported because of receiving stolen goods and Jay makes his confidante from London the plantation overseer. This drives the previous overseer from the plantation.

Lizzie is pregnant and because she is afraid of Lennox, she ensures that Mack does not work in the tobacco fields, but - also for her protection - works in the dilapidated manor house. But Lizzie cannot enjoy her new life in Virginia for long. She gives birth to a dead child, she catches Jay cheating and she learns that he betrayed her by allowing her to mine coal on their land. She makes the decision to leave him and makes her way west with Mack.

Jay borrowed money for the plantation. However, he spent most of it on an exhilarating festival and gambling and invested almost nothing in the plantation. He learns that it was his brother Robert who gave him a loan through an agent in Virginia. Robert went to America to ask his half-brother to repay the loan. Jay left the management of the plantation to Sidney Lennox, who, with ignorance and unwillingness, did not generate any income. The tobacco produced by the plantation is unusable and therefore worthless. Jay is bankrupt and his brother triumphs.

Jay also learns that his father died of a heart attack in London and that he did not inherit anything. However, before his death Sir George decreed that every grandchild born within one year of his death should receive 25% of his property. The coal from High Glen has cleaned up its business and so the grandchild's inheritance is a fortune. Because Jay is still married to Lizzie, he can only father a legitimate grandchild with her. And so he rushes after her until Mack, Lizzie and Jay meet for the last time. With the help of two Indians, one of whom showed Mack and Lizzie the way through the mountains, Jay is able to be killed. The book ends with Mack and Lizzie starting to build their new home.

Historical reference

In this book Follet has dealt with the serfdom of the Scottish coal miners, the employee revolt in London in 1780, the practice of deporting criminals to America, and the slave trade in the colonies of the New World . John Wilkes and George Washington are also mentioned as historical figures in several places in the work.

literature

The bridges of freedom . Bastei Lübbe, ISBN 340412815X (paperback), ISBN 3785708521 (hardcover). The work was published in 1995 and translated into German by Till R. Lohmeyer and Christel Rost in 1996. The illustration was done by the artist Achim Kiel .