This novel was Morrison’s third book, and one of her most ambitious. A portrait of black female friendship, as well as a fiercely unconventional black female character, Sula firmly established Morrison as a master of characterization. With her second book , Morrison continued her tradition of showcasing the lives of those who are most often dismissed or rejected in mainstream society: specifically, the two black women from the low-income Ohio neighborhood The Bottom, who form the central relationship at the heart of Sula. While Sula and Nel grow up close friends, a tragic accident causes their relationship to fall apart, and the novel follows the two as they go down wildly divergent life paths. It’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one, especially since many have sought to have the book banned in classrooms and libraries. The novel tells the story of Pecola, a bullied young black girl who wishes more than anything else for the hallmarks of white American beauty - blue eyes, blond hair, fair skin - and whose childhood rape by her father leads to her unraveling. Though it was not met with instant acclaim, it’s arguably her most intensely personal work, as it was set in Lorain County, where Morrison grew up. Published when Morrison was 40 years old, The Bluest Eye was her debut novel. In honor of Morrison’s life and work, here are nine of the most essential works in the Morrison canon. Singer Paulette McWilliams on Her Years With Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and Steely Dan Nor were novels the only books that Morrison wrote: she dabbled in many different genres, writing children’s books and essays well into her later years. But although Beloved was probably Morrison’s most widely read work, it is not always considered her most stylistically significant or groundbreaking work (that honor usually goes to Song of Solomon ) nor is it arguably her most personal (The Bluest Eye). Born Chloe Ardella Wofford in 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, Morrison was perhaps best known for her master work, Beloved, which is widely considered to be one of the best, if not the best, books about American slavery, and was later adapted into a film produced by and starring Oprah Winfrey. The first African American woman to win a Nobel prize, Morrison was known for her unflinching and relentlessly lyrical evocation of the black American experience, in all its brutality and beauty. Although the novelist and essayist had struggled with health issues in recent years, the cause of death was unreported at press time. On August 5th, it was reported that Toni Morrison, the Nobel Prize-winning author of the classic works Beloved and The Bluest Eyeand one of the greatest 20th century American novelists, had died at the age of 88.
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