WE WILL BE FREE: THE LIFE AND FAITH OF SOJOURNER TRUTH. By NancyKoester. Library of Religious Biography, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2023. Pp. vii + 270. $ 20. 59.

In this riveting biography of Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree around 1797, one of America's most iconic abolitionists, a prophet of social justice, hymn writer, antislavery lecturer, preacher, and women's rights activist, the American religious historian Nancy Koester offers a significant contribution to the corpus of knowledge on the nineteenth-century abolition movement. Drawing from newspaper articles, memoirs, and modern biographies, Koester covers the account of Truth's life during and after her enslavement. She also effectively demonstrates the central role of Truth's Christian faith in shaping her advocacy and enhancing oratory during the abolition period, women's rights movement, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. According to Koester, Truth's advocacy for equal rights was her “expression of her faith in a God of justice and mercy.” Although Truth did not know how to read and write, she knew “the Bible well, from close listening, prayer, and meditation. The scripture to her was … a living word to be proclaimed, prayed, and lived.” The biography captures how Truth also employs the Bible to challenge and refute the myths of women's inferiority. She advocated for both “white and black women.” Her activism took her to Washington, DC, where she met President Abraham Lincoln. Koester also illustrates Truth's involvement with the Northampton Association, where she participated in antislavery lectures alongside prominent abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass and William Llyod Garrison. Unlike Fredrik Douglas, Truth was a pacifist; however, she changed her views during the Civil War because she “realized that only a Union victory could free the slaves.” During Reconstruction, Truth worked hard among the freed people in the Freedmen's Hospital, National Colored Home, and an orphanage, fought to desegregate public transportation, and worked hard to move the freed people in Washington, DC, to the North. Koester draws the connection throughout the biography, showing how Truth's Christian faith was central to her activism. Although Sojourner Truth is mainly recognized as an iconic abolitionist, Koester effectively highlights her role as a devoted mother and grandmother. Despite her tight schedule for public advocacy, Koester demonstrates how she always has time for her family. In the Spring of 1853, while Truth was in an antislavery meeting in Boston, she left the meeting and traveled a hundred miles to attend to her sick daughter, Diana. Koester's insightful approach to this biography allows the audience to meet Sojourner Truth's world and understand the historical context of the time. The biography is compelling and easily accessible for people without historical backgrounds to comprehend. In a time where systemic racism and human rights abuse are still a problem in our society, the life and faith of Sojourner Truth remain relevant to students and faculty of American history and interested readers around the globe.