Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert

 

Finished on: 6/20/2026

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

 

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I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Its conceit sounds so cool (and to be clear, I still think the core idea shows creativity and potential), but packaged in the form of a novel, this falls flat for me.

 

This book desperately wants to be a stage play or a musical, but it consistently fails to take advantage of the novel as a medium. All the qualities that make the novel a desirable medium for a story—room to be expansive with plot elements, room to explore interior character voice, etc.—are underutilized here. The book brushes against interesting subjects (e.g. the creative process, the cultural legacy of pioneering historical figures, etc.) but doesn’t offer especially meaningful exploration of them. The strengths of the book are the energy of the dialogue and the small, tender moments and collaborations between characters... all of which would've shown to better advantage in a script.