War Comes to Willy Freeman

War Comes to Willy Freeman (1987), a novel by James Lincoln Collier, follows the story of Wilhelmina “Willy” Freeman, a young African-America girl who lives through the drama of the Revolutionary War, which affects her in a direct and tragic way. Though critically acclaimed, the novel has been the focus of some controversy for its language in particular: it unabashedly includes words like “nigger” and “slut” in several characters' dialogues. Some readers have found this offensive, but Collier contends that his inclusion of that language is true to the time period and important to the story.

When the story begins, thirteen-year-old Willy lives with her mother, Lucy, and father, Jordan, near the town of Groton, Connecticut. Willy sees a band of British soldiers pass by her house, and is dazzled by the sunlight reflecting off their bayonets. The sight of the soldiers makes Willy nervous, because she knows their appearance means war is at hand, and her father will soon be called to enlist on the Americans' side. Willy and her parents were freed by their former owner so that Willy's father could fight against the British.

Her mother, Lucy, orders Willy to go out to milk the family cow, which holds a special place in Lucy's heart, a symbol of her newfound freedom. Willy is tempted to resist, because this means she will have to don her “milking britches,” and then clean up and put her dress back on again afterward – trouble she doesn't want to go to. Nevertheless, she acquiesces. After milking the cow and returning home, that which Willy has been dreading happens: her father notifies the family that he is off to join the American fighting forces in Fort Griswold. Jordan decides that Willy should accompany him on the trip to Fort Griswold so that she can ride the family horse home afterward. Lucy vehemently objects to this, fearing for Willy's safety, but Jordan insists.



Jordan and Willy set off for Fort Griswold; when they arrive, they find that battle has already broken out. Jordan runs for the fort wall and is hauled up to apparent safety. Trying to escape, Willy is caught, and she, too, is hauled over the wall into the American fort. Not long after, the British break through the Americans' defenses and flood the fort, killing every soldier they find, including Willy's father. When they discover Willy, however, they let her go since she is a girl. She returns home.

When Willy arrives back home in Groton, she finds that her mother has gone missing. Willy learns from a neighbor that the invading British have taken her captive. Knowing that it would be too dangerous to simply stay alone at home, she resolves to turn to her Aunt Betsy for help. After arriving at Aunt Betsy's, she is intercepted by Captain Ivers, who owns Betsy's husband, Jack, and the land on which Betsy and Jack live. Unwilling to allow Willy to stay on his land without working for him, he attempts to re-enslave her. Willy escapes him, and, disguised as a boy, decides to go to New York to search for her mother.

After meeting Horace, a young African American boy who is the same age as she is, Willy is introduced to Black Sam Fraunces, the owner of a local tavern. Sam allows Willy, still disguised as a boy, to stay and work at the tavern. She continues to solicit information about the whereabouts of her mother, eventually learning from family friend Mr. Goodrich that she is very ill and staying with her sister Betsy, back at Captain Ivers'. Although terrified of having to confront Ivers again, Willy decides to go to see her mother before she dies.



When she finds her mother, Willy learns that Ivers has prevented her from receiving medical care, arguing that she isn't worth the expense. Willy tries to find a doctor for her mother, but fails, and her mother dies. Outraged by her mother's treatment and consequent death, Willy rushes and attacks Ivers. Willy's uncle Jack intervenes to stop Ivers from whipping Willy, and Ivers, infuriated by his impertinence, has him imprisoned for his actions. Willy conquers her urge to simply flee back to New York, instead, enlisting the help of Mr. Goodrich, a lawyer. Together they secure Jack's release from jail and ensure Willy's own freedom. These issues resolved, Willy, now sixteen, returns to New York and Sam Fraunces's tavern where Horace is waiting for her.

Collier's novel is a rare example of a Revolutionary-era story told from the point of view of a protagonist who falls into several groups underrepresented in literature set during that time: young, female, and black. And while, unsurprisingly, the specter of enslavement haunts Willy throughout her travels, it is also worth noting that Colliers makes Willy keenly aware, even when she is quite young, of the particular dangers of being a young woman. In an early scene, when Willy is being hoisted up the fort wall by several soldiers, she worries about their groping hands. She also spends much of the story disguised as a boy, which underscores the greater freedom and safety that boys enjoyed in public. In these ways, Collier's novel is an excellent counterpart and counterpoint to more traditional, widely-read fiction in the same genre, such as Johnny Tremaine.