God Help the Child

Starred review from December 22, 2014
In Morrison's short, emotionally-wrenching novel, her first since 2012's Home, a mother learns about the damage adults do to children and the choices children make as they grow to suppress, express, or overcome their shame. The story begins with the birth of Lula Ann Bridewell, a midnight black baby whose mother cannot stand to touch her. Grown-up Lula Ann transforms herself into Bride, a stiletto-wearing, Jaguar-driving California executive with dark skin proudly accentuated by stylish white clothing. Amid preparations for the launch of her signature cosmetics line, Bride offers a gift-bag of cash and cosmetics to parolee Sofia Huxley, the kindergarten teacher Bride accused of sexual abuse 15 years before, earning Bride maternal approval and Sofia her prison sentence. Sofia's angry rejection of Bride's present, coinciding with the departure of Bride's lover, inspires such self-doubt that Bride fears regressing back into Lula Ann. A car accident lands her in a culvert, where a little girl keeping dark secrets of her own comes to the rescue. Nobel laureate Morrison explores characteristic themes of people held captive by inner struggles; the delusion of racism; violence and redemption. Her literary craftsmanship endures with sparse language, precise imagery, and even humor. This haunting novel displays a profound understanding of American culture and an unwavering sense of justice and forgiveness.

Starred review from January 15, 2015
Brutality, racism and lies are relieved by moments of connection in Morrison's latest.A little girl is born with skin so black her mother will not touch her. Desperate for approval, to just once have her mother take her hand, she tells a lie that puts an innocent schoolteacher in jail for decades. Later, the ebony-skinned girl will change her name to Bride, wear only white, become a cosmetics entrepreneur, drive a Jaguar. Her lover, a man named Booker, also bears a deep scar on his soul-his older brother was abducted, tortured and murdered by a pedophilic serial killer. This is a skinny, fast-moving novel filled with tragic incidents, most sketched in a few haunting sentences: "The last time Booker saw Adam he was skateboarding down the sidewalk in twilight, his yellow T-shirt fluorescent under the Northern Ash trees." When Bride's falsely accused teacher is released from prison, there's a new round of trouble. Booker leaves, Bride goes after him-and ends up in the woods, recovering from a car accident with hippie survivalists who have adopted a young girl abused by her prostitute mother. Meanwhile, Bride is anxiously watching her own body metamorphose into that of a child-her pubic hair has vanished, her chest has flattened, her earlobes are smooth. As in the darkest fairy tales, there will be fire and death. There will also be lobster salad, Smartwater and Louis Vuitton; the mythic aspects of this novel are balanced by moments like the one in which Bride decides that the song that most represents her relationship with Booker is "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." A chilling oracle and a lively storyteller, Nobel winner Morrison continues the work she began 45 years ago with The Bluest Eye.

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February 15, 2015
This novel is brief for Morrisonbrief for most any major novelist. There is a lot of foundational information for readers to quickly learn in the opening pages. Brevity for Morrison doesn't mean cutting out lots of plot development and character presentation. It means that the usual amount of that kind of elaboration is condensed in fewer pages than what would be expected. So there is no wading into the story and gathering at a measured pace all the important clues about people and events that the reader ordinarily has time to absorb and process. The theme can be gleaned from the title. This is a novel about how psychological damage in childhood influences the way an adult leads his or her life. Four voices, four charactersthe primary one being Bride, born so dark-skinned that her light-skinned mother was loathe to even touch hergive solo articulation to their hurts when young and the consequent dented versions of their adult selves. Now, the strength of the noveland it does indeed gain compelling strengthis that it becomes a swirl of deep emotions, sucking the reader in, which is good, because the point of the novel is to empathize as deeply as possible with what these characters experience.High-Demand Backstory: A new Morrison novel? Stock up. Enough said.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

December 1, 2014

"What you do to children matters. And they might never forget." That's the lesson finally learned by light-skinned Sweetness, who rejects her daughter Bride because of her blue-black skin. That luminous skin leads Bride to triumph and makes her mother tell devastating lies. Also in Bride's orbit: angry Booker, loved and lost by Bride, and a white girl named Rain, who seeks comfort from Bride after suffering abuse by her prostitute mother. Another dazzler from Nobel laureate Morrison; with a 200,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2015

In her latest book, Nobel laureate Morrison shows us how we hold onto our pain and let it define us, pulling back on her often liquidly lyric style to offer powerful portraits in lean prose. Sweetness, who is from a family whose members can pass for white, gives birth to the midnight-black Lula Ann and raises her at an ashamed and bitter distance, which she rationalizes will toughen her up. As a child, Lula Ann gains some favor from her mother by helping to put away a teacher named Sofia, who is accused of sexually abusing her charges. As an adult who renames herself Bride, Lula Ann becomes a successful, traffic-stoppingly beautiful career woman. But her life starts falling apart when she meets with a just-paroled Sofia. Then Booker, with whom she's been conducting a passionate affair, leaves without explanation. Serious-minded Booker cannot leave behind a terrible family tragedy, and as Bride pursues him for answers to his abandonment, they are both transformed in more ways than one. VERDICT There are some moves here that may seem obvious, but the pieces all fit together seamlessly in a story about beating back the past, confronting the present, and understanding one's worth. [See Prepub Alert, 11/17/14.]--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 29, 2015
Morrison’s latest novel finds adults struggling to overcome the emotional scars of childhood. The story begins with the birth of Lula Ann Bridewell, a deep blue-black-skinned baby whose light-skinned mother cannot stand to touch her. Grown-up Lula Ann transforms
herself into Bride, a glamorous fashion executive who still yearns for love and acceptance in her personal life. Amid preparations for the launch of her signature cosmetics line, Bride offers a gift bag of cash and cosmetics to parolee Sofia Huxley, the kindergarten teacher Bride accused of sexual abuse 15 years before. Sofia’s angry rejection of Bride’s present, coinciding with the departure of Bride’s lover, inspires such self-doubt that Bride fears regressing into Lula Ann. Morrison reads with tremendous insight and empathy for the characters, vividly bringing them to life. Every emotional nuance—yearning, bewilderment, anger, love, self-empowerment—resonates in her voice, making this a powerful audio experience that elevates Morrison’s already remarkable and memorable prose. A Knopf hardcover.