God Help the Child

God Help the ChildSpare and unsparing, God Help the Child the first novel by Toni Morrison to be set in our current moment weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult. At the center: a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life, but which caused her light skinned mother to deny her even the simplest

Spare and unsparing, God Help the Child--the first novel by Toni Morrison to be set in our current moment--weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult.

At the center: a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life, but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love. There is Booker, the man Bride loves, and loses to anger. Rain, the mysterious white child with whom she crosses paths. And finally, Bride's mother herself, Sweetness, who takes a lifetime to come to understand that "what you do to children matters. And they might never forget."

A fierce and provocative novel that adds a new dimension to the matchless oeuvre of Toni Morrison.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: 04/21/2015
ISBN: 9780307594174
Pages: 192
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.90w x 1.00d

Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 12/01/2014 pg. 66
Publishers Weekly 12/22/2015
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2015
Entertainment Weekly 12/26/2014 pg. 88
Booklist 02/15/2015 pg. 30
Library Journal 03/15/2015 pg. 94
Essence 05/01/2015 pg. 114
New York Times Book Review 04/19/2015 pg. 1
New York Times Book Review 04/26/2015 pg. 26
People Weekly 05/04/2015 pg. 58
New York Review of Books 05/07/2015 pg. 11
Christian Century 04/29/2015 pg. 39
Shelf Awareness 05/01/2015
BookPage 05/01/2015
Entertainment Weekly 05/08/2015 pg. 66
Books & Culture 07/01/2015 pg. 35
Kirkus Best Fiction 11/15/2015 pg. 29
Essence 12/01/2015 pg. 64
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/06/2015 pg. 26
Library Journal 12/01/2014