A review by lisa_mc
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
4.0
Toni Morrison's writing grows more spare with every book, but also more evocative and more beautiful. Spare doesn't equal simple, though, and "God Help the Child" involves several complex stories despite its short length.
The book centers on Bride, a successful and stunning woman whose life is thrown into turmoil (again) by a series of events, some of which she had control over and some not. Raised by a mother left alone and turned cold and distant because of Bride's striking blackness, Bride nonetheless figures out how to gain her mother's approval, and later how to make her own way in the world.
The narrative is told from multiple viewpoints, but those viewpoints converge on Bride to show all the facets of her life. As with all Morrison books, the themes of race, love and family pervade, and the grittier parts of society and human nature are not glossed over, but a spirit of optimism runs through the book as well.
The book centers on Bride, a successful and stunning woman whose life is thrown into turmoil (again) by a series of events, some of which she had control over and some not. Raised by a mother left alone and turned cold and distant because of Bride's striking blackness, Bride nonetheless figures out how to gain her mother's approval, and later how to make her own way in the world.
The narrative is told from multiple viewpoints, but those viewpoints converge on Bride to show all the facets of her life. As with all Morrison books, the themes of race, love and family pervade, and the grittier parts of society and human nature are not glossed over, but a spirit of optimism runs through the book as well.