Or Give Me Death

Or Give Me Death (ISBN 0-15-216687-4) is a 2003 work of historical fiction by Ann Rinaldi about the possibility that the famous words of Patrick Henry "Give me Liberty or Give me death" may in fact have been spoken first by his dying, mentally ill wife, whom he kept locked up in a cellar to keep her from hurting anyone. The story is told through the eyes of his daughter, Anne Henry. Also is told by his other Daughter Patsy Henry. Patrick Henry travels the American colonies, advocating.

As the mother of a large family and wife of Patrick Henry succumbs to a genetic mental disorder, she is removed to a cellar prison in her own house, where she shows the power to predict future outcomes. Her family is left to cope with her absence, even as they are threatened to be torn apart by the knowledge of the next child who inherits their mother's disease.

Novels by Ann Rinaldi
Episodes
A Ride into Morning (1991)  • A Break with Charity (1992)  • The Fifth of March (1993)  • Finishing Becca (1994)  • The Secret of Sarah Revere (1995)  • Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons (1996)  • An Acquaintance with Darkness (1997)  • Cast Two Shadows (1998)  • The Coffin Quilt (1999)  • The Staircase (2000)  • Girl in Blue (2001)  • Numbering all the Bones (2002)  • Or Give Me Death (2003)  • An Unlikely Friendship (2007)  • Come Juneteenth (2007)  • The Ever-After Bird (2007)  • Juliet's Moon (2008) The Letter Writer (2008)
Dear America
My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl (1999)  • The Journal of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, a Pilgrim Boy (2000)
Other novels
Term Paper (1980)  • Promises Are for Keeping (1982)  • But in the Fall I'm Leaving (1985)  • Time Enough for Drums (1986)  • The Good Side of My Heart (1987)  • The Last Silk Dress (1988)  • Wolf by the Ears (1991)  • In My Father's House (1992)  • The Second Bend in the River (1997)  • Mine Eyes Have Seen (1997)  • Amelia's War (1999)  • The Education of Mary: A Little Miss of Color, 1832 (2000)  • Girl in Blue (2001)  • Millicent's Gift (2002)  • Taking Liberty: (2002)  • Numbering All the Bones (2002)  • Sarah's Ground (2004)  • Mutiny's Daughter (2004)  • Nine Days a Queen (2005)  • Brooklyn Rose (2005)  • The Color of Fire (2005)  • The Redheaded Princess (2008)  • My Vicksburg (2009)  • Leigh-Anne's Civil War (2009)  • The Family Greene (2010)  • The Last Full Measure (November 2010)