Beloved

by Toni Morrison

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In a word: Tender

In a Sentence: Morrison's characters are often haunting, but never before have they been haunted.

Synopsis: The novel that won the Pulitzer. The plot loosely follows Sethe, a steely ex-slave, and her lethal love for her family in antebellum Cincinnati. In true Morrison fashion, the tale is told partially chronologically, partially in a series of flashbacks. A catalog of worn out hearts, Beloved speaks of love, sacrifice, strength, and forgiveness.

Reactions: As Toni Morrison's complete published works are on my to-read list, it was only a matter of time before I made it to her best known work. This one, I felt, was the most hair-raising. Morrison has led me from heartbreak to hopefulness in a matter of pages all with the eloquence of a poet, but this novel alone, in its depiction of the strongest men and women devilishly broken, was written over with evil. This book embodies the capacity for love to create and and destroy, to weaken and strengthen, to condemn and forgive.

Read if: you wish to experience fierce, loyal, hard-loving characters, and what it takes to wear them down.