Characters Good Dirt Charmaine Wilkerson

Soh Freeman: Protective Mother, Grieving Matriarch in Good Dirt

Overview

Isabella “Soh” Freeman (née Bliss) is the wife of Ed Freeman and the mother of Baz and Ebby. A descendant of one of New England’s oldest African American families, Soh is a former attorney and lifelong volunteer who channels her intelligence and discipline into managing her household. Her public persona—composed, generous, and unflappable—masks a private landscape of grief over her son’s violent death, worry about her husband’s emotional withdrawal, and fierce determination to protect her surviving daughter. Soh’s name, a nod to Sojourner Truth, foreshadows her role as a woman who must navigate trauma while bearing witness to her family’s history.

Plot Role

Soh appears primarily in the novel’s present timeline (2018) and in key flashbacks. She is the maternal anchor of the Freeman family, overseeing Ebby’s attempted wedding and later confronting its aftermath. Her perspective in Chapter 26 reveals the tension she feels with Ed after the wedding collapse, and her actions in Chapter 81—slapping Henry Pepper—showcase both her protective rage and the restraint she must practice as a Black woman in a predominantly white community. In the final chapters, Soh visits the Edward Basil Freeman Gallery (Chapter 113), where she touches the repaired Old Mo jar and reflects on brokenness and restoration.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Soh’s core motivation is to safeguard her daughter Ebby from further harm. This drive is evident when she suppresses her desire to publicly humiliate Henry, knowing that society expects Black women to remain gracious under scrutiny (Chapter 26). Her restraint is not passivity; it is a calculated choice rooted in generations of survival.

Another motivation is preserving her family’s legacy. She fought her mother Gwendolyn over where to raise her children, insisting that living in a coastal Connecticut community was itself an act of defiance against racist laws (Chapter 26). Soh also treasures Old Mo, the stoneware jar, because it embodies Black history and resilience. In Chapter 113 she breathes in the jar’s scent and runs her hand along its repaired seam, affirming that something broken can be pieced back together.

Soh’s traits include sharp intelligence (honed in legal practice), emotional discipline, and a tendency to isolate during distress. She sees a therapist to speak the unspeakable, and she admits feeling bitter about the wedding fiasco. Her actions—writing lists for Ed after Baz’s death, staying away from the house to give him space—show a woman who copes by controlling what she can.

Chronological Arc

Soh’s story unfolds in non‑linear fragments:

1983: Soh meets Old Mo for the first time at the Freeman family home, recognizing its historical significance and deepening her bond with Ed (Chapter 25).
1984: On the eve of her wedding, Ed’s parents gift the couple the jar. Soh later wonders if they would have done so had they known Ed’s future secrets (Chapter 35).
~1990: Soh and Ed move to an exclusive Connecticut coastal neighborhood with their five-year-old son Baz. She defends this choice against her mother’s criticism (Chapter 26 flashback).
2000: Baz is killed in the home invasion. Soh cannot bear to enter the house again; she writes lists for Ed. The loss entrenches her protective vigilance over Ebby (implied throughout).
2018: Soh and Ed await Ebby’s wedding, but Henry disappears. Soh supports Ebby during the cancellation, then gradually senses Ed’s emotional withdrawal. She suspects a secret, possibly another woman (Chapter 26).
Later 2018: Soh slaps Henry when he comes to confess. Ed witnesses this and later leaves home after a bitter exchange (Chapters 81, 83). Soh advises Ebby to stay in France and seek therapy (Chapter 80).
Final timeline: Soh visits the museum exhibition of Old Mo, touches the jar, and lingers at the plaque bearing her son Baz’s name (Chapter 113).

Relationships

With Ed Freeman: Their marriage is strained by unspoken grief. Soh notices Ed’s retreat into solitary walks and consulting trips, and she fears he may be hiding an affair. Yet she also remembers how they “muddled through together” after Baz’s death. The tension peaks when Soh sends Ed a look he interprets as blame, prompting him to leave (Chapter 83). Her slap of Henry (Chapter 81) disturbs Ed because it is out of character—an eruption of the raw pain they both contain.

With Ebby: Soh is fiercely protective, wanting only her daughter’s happiness. She worries Henry lacks resilience, though she keeps that doubt private. After the wedding collapse, Soh restrains her own desire for vengeance so that Ebby is not further exposed. She gives Ebby permission to remain in France, recognizing that therapy and new connections may help (Chapter 80).

With Gwendolyn Bliss: Soh’s mother is a sharp debater who challenges Soh’s decision to live in a predominantly white area. Their exchanges reveal Soh’s pride in her ancestor’s defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act, yet also her guilt about leaving her mother alone in a historic family home (Chapter 26). Gwendolyn’s influence partly explains Soh’s own sharp intelligence and sense of duty.

With Henry Pepper: Soh initially sees Henry’s kindness but doubts his backbone. When he abandons Ebby, Soh’s anger simmers until she slaps him—a brief lapse from her usual composure. The act is both a release of frustration and a rebuke of his cowardice.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Moving to the Connecticut coast: Soh champions this move as a continuation of her ancestor’s legacy of choosing where to live. The consequence is isolation—she remains the only Black woman in her neighborhood for years, a fact that amplifies the scrutiny the family faces after Baz’s death.
Restraining her anger at Henry: Soh cloaks her rage in chilly courtesy when the Peppers arrive (Chapter 26). This preserves her public dignity but also delays any real confrontation. Later, she does slap Henry, but only after he comes to her home and she is already raw from Ed’s distance.
Advising Ebby to stay in France: Rather than pulling Ebby home after the wedding collapse, Soh tells her daughter to stay and work on herself (Chapter 80). This decision allows Ebby to begin healing—finding therapy, connecting with Robert—while also giving Soh space to address her own marriage.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Memory and Trauma: Soh embodies the burden of traumatic memory. She cannot enter the house after Baz’s death; she copes by making lists. Her ongoing therapy underscores that trauma requires active work, not just endurance. Learn more in our Memory and Trauma analysis.
Family Legacy and Heritage: Soh’s name and her reverence for Old Mo connect her to Sojourner Truth and to the jar’s inscription, “The Mind Cannot Be Chained.” The jar represents inherited strength; Soh’s decision to raise her family where she chooses is a continuation of that legacy. See Family Legacy and Heritage.
Racial Identity and Privilege: Soh is acutely aware that her wealth and social standing do not shield her from suspicion. After Baz’s death, the media subtext is “What did the Freeman family do?” (Chapter 26). That pressure forces Soh to be “above” acts of revenge. Explore Racial Identity and Privilege.
Resilience and Healing: Soh’s final gesture at the gallery—touching the repaired jar—symbolizes her own journey from shattering to mending. She does not deny pain but learns that brokenness can be transformed. See Resilience and Healing.
Secrets and Truth: Soh senses Ed’s secret, yet she also withholds parts of herself. The novel suggests that unspoken truths, like the jar’s hidden inscription, eventually surface. For more, see Secrets and Truth.

Old Mo itself is the story’s central symbol: a stoneware jar made by an enslaved potter, passed through generations, shattered and then repaired. Soh’s bond with the jar mirrors her own fractured yet resilient spirit.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why does Soh slap Henry?
Soh slaps Henry because he abandoned Ebby on their wedding day and then fails to communicate honestly. The blow releases months of suppressed anger and grief. (Chapter 81) This act is a rare lapse from her usual public restraint.

2. Does Soh blame Ed for Baz’s death?
The novel is ambiguous. Soh’s look at Ed (Chapter 83) makes him suspect she blames him, and Ed later reveals he blames himself for the move to Connecticut and the home invasion. However, Soh never states explicit blame; her anger likely stems from unresolved grief rather than direct accusation. This is interpretation, not explicit fact.

3. What does Soh’s name signify?
Her nickname “Soh” derives from Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree), the abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Her full name Isabella also honors her paternal grandmother. The name links her to a legacy of activism and moral courage. (Chapter 25)

4. How does Soh’s relationship with her mother influence her choices?
Gwendolyn Bliss teaches Soh to be a fierce debater and proud of her family’s abolitionist history. Yet Soh rejects her mother’s insistence on staying in a historically Black community, arguing that choosing to live elsewhere is itself a form of legacy (Chapter 26). This tension shows Soh forging her own path while carrying her mother’s lessons.

5. Why does Soh tell Ebby to stay in France instead of returning home?
Soh recognizes that Ebby needs professional help and space away from the family’s grief (Chapter 80). By giving permission to stay, Soh puts her daughter’s healing above her own desire to have Ebby close. It is a selfless act rooted in the protective love that defines her character.