She Reads: God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

As you recall, I urged us all to focus on African-American literature for the month of February in my latest article. I wanted to share a review on a book I’ve recently finished written by the legendary Toni Morrison. God Help the Child is a historical literary fiction novel, centered on a dark skinned girl who calls herself Bride. Throughout the novel you see her life unfold and you get multiple perspectives from different characters. This novel is a heavy read that focuses on social issues, identity issues, relationships with ourselves and how that ultimately shapes the relationships in which we have with others. Toni Morrison does a remarkable job in pushing the plot forward and developing the characters swiftly while not rushing any aspect of the story, in a short 178 page novel.

Not every novel you read affects you, however, this was the second fictional book that I’ve read this year that I was annotating, highlighting, and was forced to stop and think about the simplest sentences that Toni arranged. As an author, Toni has a way of pulling the reader in and making the reader question social issues, personal issues, and issues within races and sexual classes. This novel made me cry, made me raise my eyebrows and even gave me the chills at certain parts.

I’m going to tell you guys what I told my two best friends, if you only read one book this year, have it be Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child. I will warn you again, it is heavy and deals with a lot of trigger issues, but they are issues that need to be brought to the light and discussed. If you are willing to dive into the conversation that Toni Morrison is stirring up with this book, please pick up your copy! And if you have already read this book, tell me your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to hear from you!

torrie o.