A review of The Bell of Liberty by Levi Bakker

Overview:
The Bell of Liberty by Levi Bakker is his debut novel. It is the year 1750 and the book set in an alternate history of British colonial America. Surrounding a fictionalized origin for the real life Liberty Bell, it follows an immigrant metalworker, named Lukas Visser, from the Dutch Republic on his journey to the new world in search of a stable job and opportunities for his family. Upon coming to America he ends up in the slowly developing battle for American Independence and freedom. The alternate history begins with the discovery of a giant strange underground cavern full of gold in Georgia which the British crown covets to increase their wealth. Shortly after Lukas establishes himself in America as a competent metalworker he accidentally stumbles across a plot to take the gold in the name of American liberty. Over the course of the book he encounters important real historical figures on both sides of the conflict as tensions slowly increase setting up the Revolutionary War.


My opinion:
I was pleasantly surprised by my enjoyment of this book. It does a good job of establishing its main character and I enjoy the banter between Lukas and the historical characters it portrays. While some parts seem a little on the nose and forced I can enjoy the inside history jokes and can tell the writer did his research. While the Liberty Bell isn't actually made of gold, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief from this other than that historically conscious plot. I feel like the author could have expanded more on the British side of the conflict as well as his relationship with his family back home as it is relegated to only minor mentions halfway through the book. I'm not sure if gold can be realistically found in Georgia but I appreciate that the book attempts to justify it through passive and well done exposition. In my opinion, the biggest flaw in the book was a shoehorned subplot focusing on slavery and the treatment of black people in colonial America. I don't think the focus on it is bad but it didn't really fit into the overall themes and tone of the book of the book and I don' think the author cared much about the plot and only added it to fit a stereotype of American Colonial fiction. However, the highlight of the book really lies in the interactions between the characters and historical in-jokes. The dialogue is very well written and the characters really bounce off each other in a way that highlights the more obscure facts about well-known historical figures (for instance, George Washington's hair is in fact, all real). While I don't want to spoil any of the jokes I do want to stress that they are very funny and definitely recommend them. It is important to realize that this is a comedy first and historical story second. While I do appreciate the author going in to this story with a historians mind and he does accurately represent important details such as the racism and sexism held within this time period, people going into this story looking for a complex and detailed story about the tensions and relations between the Colonies and Britain will be unfortunately disappointed. This book is clearly directed at fans of both comedies and historical fiction, particularly Colonial America and while that is a niche group of people, it is well worth missing a few history jokes for the ones that really land.



In conclusion, while the story does not deliver on being the epic Alternate Historical fiction it looks like on a first glance, it holds its ground by being an engaging and funny story with high-tier dialogue that still manages to add an interesting historical backbone. 4.5/5, not for everyone, but those who it is for will love it.

Edit: To all of those people asking where they could get the book unfortunately the only copy from the Champaign Public Library is checked out though I do suggest you ask the librarians about the availability of it.

By Eli Khuri-Reid

Comments

  1. AditiJanuary 8, 2020 at 1:13 PM

    This sounds like an interesting historical fiction twist. I liked that you talked about how the historical accuracy affected your perception of the book. You mentioned that the main character meets historical figures. Which ones? Is this book in the Uni library?

    ReplyDelete
  2. MariamJanuary 8, 2020 at 1:19 PM

    Despite this novel not falling into the genre I typically explore, The Bell of Liberty seems like an extremely interesting novel. As of recent, I have been trying to read more historical fiction and other genres outside fantasy and romance, and this novel seems like the perfect place to start. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gus MillerJanuary 8, 2020 at 1:27 PM

    This book seems very interesting and seems like it would teach the reader a lot about the history of colonial America. I have never really been interested in historical fiction, but this book seems like something I may enjoy. Where is the nearest place I can check it out? It exists, correct?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vraj P.January 8, 2020 at 3:11 PM

    This book sounds very intriguing. I like the way you explained the plot without giving spoilers. I'm surprised you gave it 0.5 points less than a perfect rating even though you had quite a few criticisms. I do enjoy comedies and historical fiction books, though the Revolutionary War does not interest me as much. Anyway, I hope to check this book out sometime soon. Where can I find it?

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  5. Emily SJanuary 9, 2020 at 12:32 PM

    Despite your multiply hasty grammatical errors, I fairly liked this review. I do like that you include where you can find the book- as if I do read a review and want to read the book I sometimes have trouble locating it. I do not personally like historical fiction however, so I probably won't be reading this book- regardless of your 9/10 review.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cpt. Jack SparrowJanuary 10, 2020 at 7:01 AM

    Ah! I vaguely remember this book from the library at Edison. It was a great read, but it felt a little chaotic and the story jumped around unpredictably. I feel like this review brings some well deserved attention to this book, as this blog will be viewed internationally (https://theebolognablog.blogspot.com/2019/12/is-russia-spying-on-us-through-our-blogs.html). Many bolognas will come in the future to you, my friend. I would suggest this book for the classroom library!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wes LJanuary 10, 2020 at 1:24 PM

    i had never heard oF this book before your review. however, After reading your review about this booK i am inclined to go and check it out. I havE previously reviewed another historical Book, and I stated that it blended histOry and plOt very well. based on your review, it sounds like this booK doEs a good job of that too. i LIke how you talked about the huMor, and how you unAshameDly pointEd out THe not so great subplot about slavery. i also liked how you talked about the dialogue as a thIng that makes this Story so amazing. great review, and i hope that this book will be available for checkoUt at the champaign Public library soon.
    (check the capital letters)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. EliJanuary 17, 2020 at 7:30 AM

      I have no idea what you are talking about.

      Delete
  8. Elle_The_MagnificentJanuary 30, 2020 at 3:24 PM

    I am interested by this book, though I don't know if I would read it, or could for that matter. I think you call out the importance of historical fiction authors all too often trying to highlight how sexism and racism affects things when all we want is a good comedy and it doesn't fit into the story. This sounds like a book that got ideas from National Treasure, i.e. the secret stash of gold and the mysteries of the liberty bell. I guess we'll never know the thought process of the author as he probably lives on an island by himself now or is dead. Huh, wacky isn't it? How people can just disappear without a trace.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Benjamin C.January 31, 2020 at 7:33 AM

    I thought this was a great review. I liked how you focus more on your opinion than on the plot of the book since it showed your opinion, but I would have liked to learn more about the book itself. I'm still a little bit confused, since the plot seems like a bunch of ideas that are loosely tied together and does not feel like a real book. I spent the whole period looking for this book on multiple databases on public libraries, but I could not find it. Do you have a copy that I can borrow?

    ReplyDelete

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