There's a lot going on. I'm really not sure what I think of this, but it was an interesting read for sure. Childhood trauma and some brutal scenes, magical realism. Still not my favourite. ( )

Loved this book. Love Toni Morrison! ( )

This is my third Morrison novel, after being blown away by Beloved and disappointed by The Bluest Eye (I know - pretty much on my own on that one). The latter didn't work for me because of its overblown and disjointed writing style, but with God Help the Child the writing style was closer to what I'd enjoyed in Beloved?

So why, then, am I struggling to figure out what I thought of it?

It was a good enough page turner, but perhaps it's just that Morrison sets such a high bar with the best of her novels that the rest have a lot to live up to, and 'good enough' just doesn't feel good enough for Morrison.

There are various themes at play in this short novel, particularly colourism and child abuse, but whilst The Bluest Eye felt overly bleak in this novel these difficult subjects feel almost too glossed over, the dial pointing less in the direction of race and poverty and more in the direction of something lighter and shinier.

Halfway through I was congratulating Morrison on making us work as a reader and put the pieces together on why Bride's lover had suddenly left her, but then she spelled it out and went Hollywood schmuck with the ending and it lost its lustre somewhat.

Still, I enjoyed this short little novel, and if I ignore the pedestal Morrison sits on and judge it for its own merit it was certainly good enough.

So, 4 stars - I'll have forgotten it by the end of the week, but sometimes you've got to put the literary analysis to one side and just award the stars for plain old readability. ( )

I read this book in one sitting: it is definitely a page turner, but I missed the insightful psychological details of books like "Song of Solomon", "Beloved" or "Paradise". Still, in the hands of a wonderful author like Toni Morrison even a slightly melodramatic story such as this one given food for thought and discussion. ( )

Toni Morrison’s final novel, God Help the Child, was published in 2015. It is the only book in her eleven-novel body of work that is set in contemporary times. The main character is a young woman named Bride, a successful executive at a cosmetics company. Bride was poorly treated by her mother, who couldn’t accept Bride’s “blue-black” skin color, but Bride believes she has moved past that abandonment. Then Bride’s partner, Booker, leaves her suddenly and without explanation, although the reader is aware it’s due to Bride’s recent well-intentioned but misguided behavior towards another person (I don’t want to reveal too many details about that in this review). She eventually sets off on a journey to find Booker, which has a life-changing impact.

This novel celebrates the possibility for individuals to become fully-formed adults despite childhood trauma, while also making it clear how difficult that journey is. Bride and Booker are victims of such trauma, which looms so large that neither one can support the other. Booker is initially a vague, undefined figure, but his back story, when revealed late in the novel, is one of the most interesting parts of the book.

Morrison’s late career writing style is less experimental and complex than her early works. While her early style confused me at first, I found myself wishing she had made more use of it in God Help the Child. Themes of childhood abuse ran like a current through this work, but the emotional impact was not as visceral as in The Bluest Eye. Morrison introduced elements of magical realism, but failed to develop them as fully as in her prize-winning Beloved. And the secondary characters -- Bride’s friend Brooklyn and Booker’s aunt Queen -- could also have been fleshed out to play more significant roles.

Nevertheless, the stories of Bride and Booker’s respective healing journeys make for good reading and show why Toni Morrison was one of our literary greats. ( )