The last time he saw his father, Henderson Freeman was bolting from his family home in Halifax, swearing that he’d never return. But no matter where he ran or who he became — a soldier in World War II, a political activist in New York, a rail porter on transcontinental trains — Henderson can’t shake his father’s voice, advising, arguing ― calling him to service for his community.

When this voice goes silent, Henderson knows that his father is dead. He returns home to deliver a eulogy, the highest duty of a Black son to his father, but how can he find the right words to describe Anthony Freeman, the enigmatic archbishop of the Abyssinia Church?

As Henderson tries to understand his father, he comes to understand himself, the rich history of Black lives in North America, and his father’s commitment to Canada as the place to live out his hopes and dreams.

CECIL FOSTER was born in Barbados and immigrated to Canada in 1978. He has been a reporter for The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and the Financial Post and has contributed to such magazines as Chatelaine, Maclean’s, Toronto Life, NOW and Canadian Business. He has also worked for the CBC (in radio and television) and CTV and is a regular commentator in the national media. He has published five works of non-fiction and four novels, including his highly praised debut, No Man in the House. Currently, Foster is a professor of sociology at the University of Guelph and is director of graduate studies in the department of transnational studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Independence is his first novel in almost twelve years.

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