|
| |
Beloved
by Toni Morrison
A horrifyingly real tale of slavery in the nineteenth century.
The story begins in the late nineteenth century in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sethe is a former slave living with her eighteen year-old daughter, Denver. Paul D., a friend of Sethe’s who she has not seen since they worked together on a Kentucky plantation, stops by. Sethe is overcome with memories from seeing him, and the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks intertwined with the present.
Sethe was born in the South and was sold to the Garners when she was only thirteen years old. She shares the work with her fellow slaves, five men who all lust after her. She eventually marries one of them, a man named Halle. They have two sons, Howard and Buglar, and a daughter whose name is not revealed. When she finally plans to leave the farm, she is pregnant again with a fourth child. Meanwhile, the original plantation owner dies and his wife, needing help, recruits her cruel and racist brother-in-law, known as Schoolteacher, to assist in running Sweet Home. The slaves decide to run, but two of them, Paul D. and Sixo, are captured. Schoolteacher kills Sixo and brings Paul D. back to continue his slavery. Sethe is still there and has already sent her children ahead to escape. Before she can join them, Schoolteacher’s nephews attack her in the barn and horribly violate her, even stealing the milk from her body. Halle saw the vicious attack from a loft above, unbeknownst to Sethe, and he goes crazy shortly thereafter. The slavery continues for Paul D., but Sethe eventually escapes, forever scarred, and struggles to rebuild her life. What follows is an intense and inspiring tale of love, struggle and finding one’s identity.
Beloved is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel written in 1987 by Toni Morrison. The story is loosely based on celebrated slave Margaret Garner. A heart wrenching and honest account of slavery and emancipation, Beloved should not be missed.
Title: Beloved
Author: Toni Morrison
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition
ISBN: 1400033411
Review written by: Jennifer Kneisley
Reviewer's Rating:9
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Talk to other readers about this story.
|
|
|
|
|
|
