Beloved is a novel by Toni Morrison. Set in 1873 in Cincinnati, it tells the story of Sethe, whose house is haunted by the spirit of her unnamed infant daughter — Beloved.
Sethe escaped from a plantation (Sweet Home) in Kentucky before the Civil War and ran to Cincinatti, where her mother-in-law (Baby Suggs) and three children (Howard, Buglar, and Beloved) lived. En route to 124 (the house where Baby Suggs lived), Sethe gives birth to another baby girl, Denver. However, shortly after arriving at 124, a group of white men come to the house to take Sethe and her children back to Sweet Home. Unwilling to subject her children to a life of slavery, she attempts to kill them in the wood shed with a saw, and succeeds in killing Beloved.
The spirit of Beloved haunts 124 afterward, first as a disembodied spirit, and then later as a flesh-and-blood young woman.
The story follows Sethe, Denver, and Paul D — another escaped slave from Sweet Home, who takes up with Sethe — as they try to love one another (and themselves) and overcome the horrors in their pasts.
Aside from the white plantation owners such as schoolteacher, Beloved serves as the primary antagonist of the novel. Sort of. But really, Beloved serves as a sort of dark mirror for many of the other characters. She constantly reminds Sethe of the atrocity she committed to save Beloved from slavery.
Despite all of the sadness and despair, the story is ultimately hopeful. The women of the town, who had previously shunned Sethe after she killed her child, band together to exorcise Beloved and save Sethe. Paul D, who left after he discovered the truth about how Beloved died, returns to 124, committed to starting anew with Sethe. And Denver gains confidence in herself to the point where she leaves 124 and works for the Bodwins.
It’s a beautiful book. The line-by-line writing is poetic, the characters are tragic, and the themes are enduring. This isn’t a great description, but I loved the book.