Song Yet Sung

Liz is a 19-year-old strikingly beautiful, strong-willed, and determined escaped enslaved woman. Raised on the Spocott plantation by Uncle Hewitt, Liz was struck on the head as a child, which caused her to develop narcolepsy. While escaping from her master, who had been sexually abusing her for years, Liz is shot in the head and begins to have strange, prophetic dreams of the future in which she sees black people in inexplicable scenes that frighten and bewilder her. Liz embarks on a journey of hardship, danger, and violence, never knowing until the end the purpose of her mission. Liz succeeds putting into the motion events that save the Woolman’s son, an ancestor of the true Dreamer she sees in her visions—whom the reader identifies as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She dies in the presence of Amber, the man she loves.

Seeing the future is a tremendous burden for Liz both physically and psychologically. She is in almost constant pain with headaches and other internal aches. She despairs after seeing her visions, which show her that even freedom cannot bring happiness to her people. Liz is also bewildered by her new strange connection to the natural world. She is so in tune with animals and plants that their thoughts influence her actions, pushing and guiding her towards securing the freedom and security of the Woolman’s son.