God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
A couple of weeks ago, sitting in a classroom, waiting for our Pre-AP/AP "we need to make sure we have rigor" meeting to start, my teaching partner asked if anyone was reading anything good. I kept my mouth shut because everyone knows how much I read, and there's no need to flaunt it unless absolutely directed to me. One of the teachers on the AP Lit team mentioned she was reading this, and said it was good. While she was telling us about it, I ordered it from Amazon. I'm not one to pass up a good book.
Toni Morrison is an author I have been meaning to read for a while. I know that she is a premier American author, if you will, and that her work is worthwhile. Now I know what all the fuss is about, and can't wait to read some of her other works.
While this book is mostly Bride's story, we do see snippets from her mother, Sweetness, her "best friend," Brooklyn, a woman she helped wrongly convict, a girl she met when she was injured, and her boyfriend, Booker.
Bride is a broken soul, but it isn't her fault. When she was born, her mother freaked out because her skin was so, so dark. Her mother wasn't much of a mother because she was repulsed by Bride's skin color, and Bride didn't receive the love that children are entitled to from their parents. In Bride's case, her brokenness propels her in life: she is beautiful and successful. I would have liked to have seen more of Sweetness' story, as I feel there had to be more to her repulsion that Bride's skin color.
A series of unfortunate events occur, and Bride has to find herself. In the process, in her own mind, everything that makes her a woman is rapidly taken away from her. When she finds her true self again, those things return.
No real complaints with this one. Like I said, I would've liked more of Sweetness' story, but this was just fine as is.
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