Title
Sula
Author
Toni Morrison
Publication Date
January 1, 1973
Rating
4.25 / 5 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘
Image source: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/117659/sula-by-toni-morrison/
Description
From the acclaimed Nobel Prize Two girls who grow up to become women. Two friends who become something worse than enemies. This brilliantly imagined novel brings us the story of Nel Wright and Sula Peace, who meet as children in the small town of Medallion, Ohio.
Nel and Sula’s devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula is a work that overflows with life.
Awards
Audie Award for Narration by the Author or Authors (1998), National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (1975)
Review
Toni Morrison does not create characters; she creates layered human beings that live on the page.
From marching through explosive European battlefields with Shadrack to the quiet devastation of Nel’s revelation, be prepared for an intensely immersive experience. Morrison’s weaving of the English language projects scenes in a way that cannot be replicated. Readers from small, rural towns will instantly identify with the eccentric and colorful characters.
I found the utter realism magnetic, attracting me to desperately flip every page. The Peace family felt especially tragic, reminding me of so many misunderstood families. Their actions are as monstrous as they are loving, as each generation tries to escape or improve the hands they were dealt. Sula, the novel’s namesake, extracted both my tears and my loathing.
This story will not speak to everyone. If you are looking for clean-cut characters who make all the right decisions, move along. But for those drawn to a literary documentary of generational evolution—to characters who stumble and strive within the gray—this is for you. Students of the human condition, or anyone seeking to witness a side of history rarely told: stop reading this review and go read this book.
If you enjoyed this, explore more of my book reviews Here.
Leave a Reply