Beloved

     Author                         Toni Morrison

     Country                        United States

     Genre                           Historical Fiction          

     Publication Date         1987

     Pages                            324








This Pulitzer Prize winning book, believed to be one of its kind was picked up by my book club and that's how it ended up with me.

This is the hearth renching story of Sethe who escapes slavery but even after 18 years, is a prisoner to its memories. Through different characters; each with their own history, Toni portrays the long term impact of slavery - how one is never really free from it (even post a physical escape) and how claiming an individual identity or knowing who you really are (after having been 'owned' by others your entire life) is harder than most of us can imagine. 

Through Sethe's character, Toni also represents the extent to which a mother would go to protect her children from what she perceives as 'danger'. Sethe is someone who kills her own infant daughter to save her from slavery. While passing no moral judgement on the action, Toni portrays a mother's struggle in killing her own child and then spending the rest of her life justifying the action to herself and to 'Beloved'; the teenage girl who turns up at her doorstep and is presumably a manifestation of her dead daughter. 

'Beloved' is an excellent piece of literature but surely qualifies as a difficult read. The complexity of constantly changing timelines and narratives make the book demand your full attention. With my inherent desire for simplicity, I found the book slightly overwhelming but guess good literature comes in different forms and I am so glad, I got myself through this. Completely worth the effort. 

My personal take away: Life is a mesh of the past, present and the future and while it may not be possible to completely get over the memories, it's the first step towards a 'free-r' future!