Beloved | Beloved

At a glance:

Author: Toni Morrison
First Published: 1987
Type of Work: Novel
Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Ghost story
Subjects: African Americans, Family or family life, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Memory, Mothers, Parents and children, Racism, Blacks, Murder or homicide, South or Southerners, Gender roles, Supernatural, Escapes, Nineteenth century, Slavery or slaves, Abandoned children, Exorcism, Ghosts or apparitions, Guilt, Middle Passage, Midwest, Ohio, Underground railroad, Yards or backyards
Locales: Kentucky, Ohio

Set primarily in southern Ohio during the period immediately following the Civil War, BELOVED centers on the attempts of the protagonist, Sethe, to come to terms with the extremely painful events associated with her attempt to escape from slavery a decade earlier. After extricating herself and her four children from an increasingly intolerable situation on the ironically named “Sweet Home” plantation in Kentucky, Sethe is tracked down by her master, at which point she chooses to kill her children rather than allow them to be returned to slavery. Although three of the children live,...

Beloved | Beloved

At a glance:

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