Beloved by Toni Morrison

My reading stats chart showed that I was lagging both with female authors and authors who are not white. I bought this book a couple of years ago, knowing that it would not be an easy read, but that it was probably an important read. I got in the mood for something that would be a bit more challenging, and on that note, this book did not disappoint.

This story follows a former slave who is haunted by her dead child.

This is not an easy book to review. Just as it was not an easy book to read.

This is very well written. It is haunting, soul-destroying and enlightening (in a very dark way). But there is a need for this story to be told. I really struggled through it, not because it was difficult to make sense of, but because it was difficult to read.

I liked the way the book is structured. The timeline was not linear and jumped from the present to different points in the past, slowly building to a complete picture. It keeps one needing to turn the pages, to find out what had happened, and what will happen - and I think it improved the reading experience. I don't think this book would have been as powerful structured differently.

The characters were so realistic - even with the element of magical realism in it. One had to appreciate the irony of the dead baby being called Beloved. But what was more chilling was that one could completely sympathise with Sethe and her actions, both in the present timeline and the past.

This novel highlights the shocking act of slavery. It shows how humans were treated with less concern than animals. It shows how families were torn apart, how brutally people were murdered and how inhumane the whole thing was.

I gave this 4 stars. It is brilliant and definitely worthy of 5, but, shew. It is hard to like something so harsh.