The other day, a good friend of mine called me all excited about her newly published book, titled “A Closer Look.” Within a few hours, Kathleen D. Dowling was at the University of the Virgin Islands St. Croix campus so that I could get a copy of her book. You should have seen her with a big smile on her face, teeth and all, greeting me with a big hug. It is a book that sheds new light on the 1848 emancipation in the Danish West Indies, particularly on the island of St. Croix.