Beloved

Set in post-Civil War Ohio, Beloved is the story of Sethe, an escaped slave who nearly 20 years ago killed her 2-year-old daughter rather than return her to a life of servitude. Sethe remains haunted by her decision, and the book centers on the phantasmic return of her daughter (as the ghost Beloved) and Sethe’s attempts to come to terms with her past. While Sethe is one of Toni Morrison’s most powerful characters, Beloved is too allegorical and too ideological to have the force of Song of Solomon (1977) or Sula (1973).