Love

LOVE

by Toni Morrison

 

Award: Nobel Prize Winner 2004


Nomination: Women's Prize Longlist 2004

 

Date Read: March 3, 2021

 

While not one of her more lauded novels, Morrison’s Love tells the story of three generations of black women living, loving and surviving in a small coastal town. Gossamer tales of women clawing and fighting over the same man’s attention and affection weave together to form a picture of love that is not necessarily positive. Is there love? Yes. Is it beautiful? No.

 

Morrison’s work here has been compared to Faulkner and I couldn’t agree more. This was a challenging read, not only in subject, but in structure and content. These stories unfold in a disjointed and non-consecutive vignettes that left me uncomfortable, yet rapt with attention.

 

Bill Cosey is an aloof hotel owner and why all these women are fighting over his favor is beyond me. The women surrounding him reveal their tales of abuse, manipulation and violence at his and one another’s hands. Once again, Morrison is able to give voice to the black female experience that causes women to falsely believe they are each other’s enemy. Morrison’s “velvet gloves” once again achieve a death blow. 

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