CERTAIN LIBERTIES is an historical novel about a gifted young musician who defies 19th-century models of womanhood by trying to succeed in a man's world. It was said that she had 'male courage, feminine fortitude and the soul of an artist'. Challenging cultural bias against playing the 'masculine' violin and performing in public in an 'unladylike position', she incited censure for her views on everything from politics to the shackles of women's underwear, only to find there were more serious threats to her personal freedom. Running from a life of prescribed expectations and a controlling father, she was recruited to work for the Underground Railroad, which she did to reunite with a cherished childhood friend. Only then did she learn about freedom in its literal sense, the most important part of the Founding Fathers' Declaration of Independence, the right to life.