I just finished Beloved by Toni Morison. You don’t need me
to tell you this is a good book. It is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel from a
Nobel Prize winning author. But this is a story about people dealing with terrible
situations and trying to make the best of it.
The main focus of the story takes place in 1873, after the
Civil War has ended, but black people still find their world in conflict (they
still do 150 years later). The main character, Sethe, is a woman who escaped
from her slaveholder and abuse, only to have to make a terrible decision
afterward that left a rip in the fabric of the world. There is a supernatural
element to this book starting with the ghost of Sethe’s dead child. But despite
a ghost and other speculative things, this story is grounded in a stark
reality.
This family has gone through a lot. We occasionally get
flashbacks to slavery days. And in 1873 they continue to go through difficult times,
yet they do find happiness now and then. They find things that work for them and
people to cling to.
Paul D was owned by the same master as Sethe and finds her
again after eighteen years apart. They become a couple. But there is a
mysterious stranger in their house. Sethe has a dead child that has come to
life after eighteen years. They don’t know it is her dead child, but Sethe is
drawn to her, and Paul D is drawn away from her. And secrets . . . secrets are
never good in a relationship.
Sethe, like several of the people in the story, is a
complex character, not always likeable. We may not always agree with Sethe’s
choices, but we understand where her choices come from.
This dark story is well-crafted and beautifully written,
though I sometimes got a bit lost in the symbolism, metaphors, and meanderings.
But that’s probably on me. It didn’t detract from the story. It is an important
story that needs to be read.
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