Status
Checked out
Genres
Publication
Alfred A. Knopf (2015), Edition: First, 192 pages
Description
Spare and unsparing, God Help the Child--the first novel by Toni Morrison to be set in our current moment--weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult. At the center: a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life, but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love. There is Booker, the man Bride loves, and loses to anger. Rain, the mysterious white child with whom she crosses paths. And finally, Bride's mother herself, Sweetness, who takes a lifetime to come to understand that "what you do to children matters. And they might never forget."
Media reviews
As the book flies toward its conclusion, the speed bumps in its early pages quickly recede in the rearview mirror. Writing with gathering speed and assurance as the book progresses, Ms. Morrison works her narrative magic, turning the Ballad of Bride and Booker into a tale that is as forceful as it
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is affecting, as fierce as it is resonant. Show Less
"Although deeply embedded in African-American history, Toni Morrison's writings have always gone beyond standard representations of African Americans as victimized or marginalized individuals drifting along the outskirts of white concerns. She has instead presented them as central cosmic presences
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wading their way through currents of unique human experience shaped by powerful confluences of historical developments. As an author, Toni Morrison in some important ways is to American fiction what the late W.E.B. Du Bois and Howard Zinn were to American history: a revisionist of themes and texts who expanded narratives on the American story to validate the testimonies of those whose lives and voices had been classified as 'minor'.” -- Aberjhani Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member mckait
God Help the Child: A novel by Toni Morrison is a short book, but it packs a lot into those pages. Bride, who as a child was given the name Lula Ann by her mother, Sweetness is the character around whom the book revolves. As an infant, a very dark skinned child, she was scorned by her much lighter
While in elementary school there was an opportunity for the little girl to try to please her mother, and gain attention, and she hoped even love. Being a child she didn't really understand the consequences of what she did, but she never forgot the day that her pointing finger changed someones life forever. She decided to make it right.
As she grew into a young adult, Lula Ann changed her name to Bride and became very successful in her chosen career. Instead of hating and hiding her color, a mentor convinced her to own it and take power from owning it. This was good advice, and it contributed to her career success. But love still eluded her. And when the man she loved left her over this thing that she longed to make right, something in her changed. Her life spiraled out of control. She became much more like little Lula Ann than the grown and successful Bride. She found others who shared the grief of not being wanted or loved. Everyone she met along her way touched her, changed her in some way. And she touched them as well.
When you read a novel by Morrison, you know that you are entering a dark and tangled web woven with words of silk and satin. Every one of her books is well worth your time to read and to immerse yourself in. This was a wonderful read.
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skinned mother. Her father, who was light skinned as well, assumed she wasn't his child, and soon left Lula Ann and Sweetness to fend for themselves in the world. He eventually relented enough to contribute something to their income, but he was never a father to little Lula Ann.While in elementary school there was an opportunity for the little girl to try to please her mother, and gain attention, and she hoped even love. Being a child she didn't really understand the consequences of what she did, but she never forgot the day that her pointing finger changed someones life forever. She decided to make it right.
As she grew into a young adult, Lula Ann changed her name to Bride and became very successful in her chosen career. Instead of hating and hiding her color, a mentor convinced her to own it and take power from owning it. This was good advice, and it contributed to her career success. But love still eluded her. And when the man she loved left her over this thing that she longed to make right, something in her changed. Her life spiraled out of control. She became much more like little Lula Ann than the grown and successful Bride. She found others who shared the grief of not being wanted or loved. Everyone she met along her way touched her, changed her in some way. And she touched them as well.
When you read a novel by Morrison, you know that you are entering a dark and tangled web woven with words of silk and satin. Every one of her books is well worth your time to read and to immerse yourself in. This was a wonderful read.
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LibraryThing member EBT1002
This is the beautifully-written story of Bride, a young black woman, "...so black she scared me. Midnight black, Sudanese black" says Sweetness, her mother. Sweetness is tough on Bride (named Lula Ann Bridewell, changed to simply Bride as part of her self-redefinition in young adulthood), leaving
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Bride starving for physical contact and emotional connection. And rendering her more resilient than she initially realizes. Told by turns from the point of view of Bride, Sweetness, and Bride's best friend Brooklyn, the story centers around Bride's effort to recover from a devastating break-up with Booker, a man with whom she has fallen deeply in love. But it also moves through time and, as we learn about the defenses Bride and Booker have each brought with them from childhood, we witness their delicate navigation of the psychological terrain and terror of intimacy. Better than anyone, Morrison weaves the impact of societal biases about skin color into the fabric of her novels of love, heartbreak, and human yearning. In God Help the Child, that thread is both fine and bold. Show Less
LibraryThing member AnnieMod
She calls herself Bride. It was not the name her mother gave her but they were never close and never talk these days. When she was born, she was a lot darker than her parents and that caused the father to run and the mother to teach her that she is inferior.
He calls himself Booker - and that was
She had to face a choice she made when she was a child, a choice that changed a woman's life. He had to face the choice she makes now. Their histories stops them from confiding in each other and makes them feel alone in a world full of people. It will take a savage beating and one of them getting mad enough to try to follow the other to start untangling the mess of old half-truths and child trauma and find a way to deal with them. It will take a death and a near death to get them together.
It is a novel about child trauma and what childhood experiences can cause. A novel about what children can do for their parents' love. A story about how experiences shape us and change us.
The story is filled also with secondary characters which are there almost to prove a point - they feel black and white to the full color rendition of Bride and Booker - a woman from her life, a woman from his present and past, her best friend, the family that helps her (complete with another abused and saved child). But that does not make them less important - they make the main character more pronounced.
It is a hard novel to read in some places - sexual abuse is always a hard topic but when children are involved (in this case both as victims and as viewers) it is even harder. Listening to Bride describing the rape she saw when she was little is hard; seeing Booker's anger at his brother's abuser is as bad. Both the main characters were never abused but it was in their life and it marked them. And under that all is the color of Bride's skin - in a changing world, it still matter. You wonder if she would be that damaged if her mother had not decided to teach her how the world works; is she had not made sure that Bride knows her place in the world. You want to hate the mother but she is part of her own world - she did what she thought was the best for her daughter. That turned Bride into a young woman that is fighting for what she wants but at the same time really messed up her ideas of what is important.
It is a powerful story about how childhood experiences influence someone's life and about the hidden traumas - you do not need to have been abused in order for it to mark and define your life. Something with the pacing of the novel is somewhat wrong - the start is clunky (as it is the first Morrison I read, I was wondering why she is so liked considering that prose) but then it picks up and evens out and the style is pretty readable after that.
He calls himself Booker - and that was
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the name given to him by parents that named their kids alphabetically. She saw a child raped when she was a child and had to keep quiet not to loose her home. He lost his older brother to a child abuser when he was young and had to keep quiet because his family wanted to move on. Their childhood made them what they are and when they met, it made their relationship almost impossible despite the attraction and the love. Until things changed. She had to face a choice she made when she was a child, a choice that changed a woman's life. He had to face the choice she makes now. Their histories stops them from confiding in each other and makes them feel alone in a world full of people. It will take a savage beating and one of them getting mad enough to try to follow the other to start untangling the mess of old half-truths and child trauma and find a way to deal with them. It will take a death and a near death to get them together.
It is a novel about child trauma and what childhood experiences can cause. A novel about what children can do for their parents' love. A story about how experiences shape us and change us.
The story is filled also with secondary characters which are there almost to prove a point - they feel black and white to the full color rendition of Bride and Booker - a woman from her life, a woman from his present and past, her best friend, the family that helps her (complete with another abused and saved child). But that does not make them less important - they make the main character more pronounced.
It is a hard novel to read in some places - sexual abuse is always a hard topic but when children are involved (in this case both as victims and as viewers) it is even harder. Listening to Bride describing the rape she saw when she was little is hard; seeing Booker's anger at his brother's abuser is as bad. Both the main characters were never abused but it was in their life and it marked them. And under that all is the color of Bride's skin - in a changing world, it still matter. You wonder if she would be that damaged if her mother had not decided to teach her how the world works; is she had not made sure that Bride knows her place in the world. You want to hate the mother but she is part of her own world - she did what she thought was the best for her daughter. That turned Bride into a young woman that is fighting for what she wants but at the same time really messed up her ideas of what is important.
It is a powerful story about how childhood experiences influence someone's life and about the hidden traumas - you do not need to have been abused in order for it to mark and define your life. Something with the pacing of the novel is somewhat wrong - the start is clunky (as it is the first Morrison I read, I was wondering why she is so liked considering that prose) but then it picks up and evens out and the style is pretty readable after that.
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LibraryThing member BeckyJG
Toni Morrison's God Help the Child, like its main character, Bride, is slim and exquisite. Delicately packed into its short--I'm tempted to say "too short," but the book is perfect as it is--178 pages is both the gritty realism of torn-from-the-headlines contemporary life and the timelessness of a
Lula Ann Bridewell--who will later reinvent herself as the single-named Bride--is the "blue-black" daughter of a family which has been able, and has usually chosen, to pass as white for three generations. Her mother is frightened to the point of disgust by the ebony-skinned daughter "pulled from between her thighs," teaching her daughter to call her "Sweetness" instead of "Mama" or "Mother," de-emphasizing their relationship in public whenever possible, and refusing, even in private, to touch the little girl.
Lula Ann strikes out on her own as soon as she can, and by the time she is twenty-three she has remade herself. Bride is a successful businesswoman who dresses only in white, accentuating the very feature she's always been taught to despise but could never hide. She's the creator of a successful line of middle-priced and very hip cosmetics called You, Girl. She drives a Jaguar and dates professional athletes and hip-hop musicians and eventually finds a beautiful man who loves her.
Booker Starbern, also damaged by child abuse, though of a different sort, is the man the who loves Bride, and then leaves her abruptly and with no explanation. His departure sends Bride on a kind of a quest, during which she is physically broken and finds her sense of self tried and strengthened. The book's ending may not be a fairy tale one (or maybe it is), it may not be happily-ever-after, but it is a beginning of sorts nonetheless.
God Help the Child is often grim but sometimes sweet. It has moments of ugliness and many more instances of shimmering beauty. And although God Help the Child may not rank among Toni Morrison's greatest works, as a fellow bookseller said to me when we were discussing it yesterday, lesser Morrison is still better than the best of most other writers.
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fairy tale. Lula Ann Bridewell--who will later reinvent herself as the single-named Bride--is the "blue-black" daughter of a family which has been able, and has usually chosen, to pass as white for three generations. Her mother is frightened to the point of disgust by the ebony-skinned daughter "pulled from between her thighs," teaching her daughter to call her "Sweetness" instead of "Mama" or "Mother," de-emphasizing their relationship in public whenever possible, and refusing, even in private, to touch the little girl.
Lula Ann strikes out on her own as soon as she can, and by the time she is twenty-three she has remade herself. Bride is a successful businesswoman who dresses only in white, accentuating the very feature she's always been taught to despise but could never hide. She's the creator of a successful line of middle-priced and very hip cosmetics called You, Girl. She drives a Jaguar and dates professional athletes and hip-hop musicians and eventually finds a beautiful man who loves her.
Booker Starbern, also damaged by child abuse, though of a different sort, is the man the who loves Bride, and then leaves her abruptly and with no explanation. His departure sends Bride on a kind of a quest, during which she is physically broken and finds her sense of self tried and strengthened. The book's ending may not be a fairy tale one (or maybe it is), it may not be happily-ever-after, but it is a beginning of sorts nonetheless.
God Help the Child is often grim but sometimes sweet. It has moments of ugliness and many more instances of shimmering beauty. And although God Help the Child may not rank among Toni Morrison's greatest works, as a fellow bookseller said to me when we were discussing it yesterday, lesser Morrison is still better than the best of most other writers.
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LibraryThing member ozzer
The title of Toni Morrison’s new novel demonstrates an interesting word juxtaposition where “Help” replaces the more usual “Bless. ” The latter is from the sardonic song about childhood poverty made popular by Billie Holiday and later by Blood, Sweat and Tears. Although both titles convey
Her intent with this story is to establish that childhood traumas can have persistent damaging effects and that people often are unable to confront them. MS Morrison adopts a narrative style that is both fabulous and real. The story has a fairy tale quality, telling of the hardships faced by two innocents–Bride and Booker. However, she does not stray far from realism by using multiple narrators. This gives narrative a documentary quality much like investigative journalism.
Both Bride and Booker have been damaged by childhood traumas. Bride’s parents rejected her because of her dark skin color. She seeks the acceptance of her mother, Sweetness, by falsely accusing a teacher (Sophie) of child molestation. As an adult, Bride becomes reconciled to her skin color and indeed revels in it. She seeks Sophie’s forgiveness but is violently rejected. Meanwhile, Booker’s life has been shaped by his brother’s abduction and brutal murder. He is unable to forget and also unwilling to forgive his family for their ability to do so by rejecting them. When he learns of Bride’s unsuccessful attempt to reconcile with Sophie, he abandons her also. This shatters her hard won self-confidence and sets her on a quest to find and reconcile with Booker.
With the exception of Rain, a young girl who was brutalized and abandoned by her prostitute mother, the other narrators of the tale seem to be self-absorbed and unable to accept responsibility or even acknowledge the suffering. These include Sweetness; the hippie couple who nurse Bride after an automobile accident; and Brooklyn, Bride’s friend who seems mainly interested in assuming her high profile position in a cosmetics company.
The novel’s structure is meticulous and the writing is quite lyrical, clear-eyed and non-judgmental. One expects the two lovers to live happily ever after, but MS Morrison leaves that open for speculation.
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issues of childhood trauma, MS Morrison’s implies greater darkness and foreboding. Her intent with this story is to establish that childhood traumas can have persistent damaging effects and that people often are unable to confront them. MS Morrison adopts a narrative style that is both fabulous and real. The story has a fairy tale quality, telling of the hardships faced by two innocents–Bride and Booker. However, she does not stray far from realism by using multiple narrators. This gives narrative a documentary quality much like investigative journalism.
Both Bride and Booker have been damaged by childhood traumas. Bride’s parents rejected her because of her dark skin color. She seeks the acceptance of her mother, Sweetness, by falsely accusing a teacher (Sophie) of child molestation. As an adult, Bride becomes reconciled to her skin color and indeed revels in it. She seeks Sophie’s forgiveness but is violently rejected. Meanwhile, Booker’s life has been shaped by his brother’s abduction and brutal murder. He is unable to forget and also unwilling to forgive his family for their ability to do so by rejecting them. When he learns of Bride’s unsuccessful attempt to reconcile with Sophie, he abandons her also. This shatters her hard won self-confidence and sets her on a quest to find and reconcile with Booker.
With the exception of Rain, a young girl who was brutalized and abandoned by her prostitute mother, the other narrators of the tale seem to be self-absorbed and unable to accept responsibility or even acknowledge the suffering. These include Sweetness; the hippie couple who nurse Bride after an automobile accident; and Brooklyn, Bride’s friend who seems mainly interested in assuming her high profile position in a cosmetics company.
The novel’s structure is meticulous and the writing is quite lyrical, clear-eyed and non-judgmental. One expects the two lovers to live happily ever after, but MS Morrison leaves that open for speculation.
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LibraryThing member mirikayla
It's probably missing the point, but I kept thinking how strange it was that so many people had personal experience with child rape/molestation—it's not just several, but almost every single character in the book. I'm sure it is more common than most people would guess, but if it's that common,
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that's unbelievably bleak. In any case, I finished it with the same feeling that I usually do with Toni Morrison's books (impressed, awed, etc). It's beautifully written and the resolution is much more pleasant than I would have predicted. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dorritt
This is a terse read with an even more terse theme: the things we do to children matter. Because children who are raised in pain grow up to be adults in pain, which pain they then pass on to those they love and those who love them.
God help all the children in this book, for all of them have
Don’t worry about the plot – it scarcely matters, and Morrison scarcely bothers to justify the story’s many improbabilities or inconsistencies. Besides, who reads Morrison for plot? This novel delivers what Morrison’s novels infallibly deliver: memorable characters, lyrical prose, a little magical realism (for example, Bride’s body literally reverting back to adolescence), a whopping dose of empathy for all the damaged people in the world, and the hope of redemption through love.
God help all the children in this book, for all of them have
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suffered in one way or another. There’s the protagonist, Bride, denied love by her mother because of her black skin. There’s her inamorata Booker, permanently scarred by the death of a beloved brother at the hands of a pedophile. Booker’s aunt Queen has left a trail of abandoned children in her wake, all of whom hate her. And Rain, the only actual child in the book, has fled from a mother who sold her into prostitution. Each of them seeks to mend their wounds in dysfunctional or ineffective ways: through sex, through music, through poetry, through sensory stimulation, through betrayal. Morrison’s message is clear – lest you miss it, Morrison hammers the message home at the end of the first, brutal chapter: “But it’s not my fault. It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault. It’s not.” Don’t worry about the plot – it scarcely matters, and Morrison scarcely bothers to justify the story’s many improbabilities or inconsistencies. Besides, who reads Morrison for plot? This novel delivers what Morrison’s novels infallibly deliver: memorable characters, lyrical prose, a little magical realism (for example, Bride’s body literally reverting back to adolescence), a whopping dose of empathy for all the damaged people in the world, and the hope of redemption through love.
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LibraryThing member andreancarr
I was bored with it. Some parts were interesting but, left me feeling like the story never really came together. Toni Morrison is such a brilliant writer I enjoyed, simply reading her words. I expected, a lot more than I got from the story. I love the start of it about, the black skinned baby from
Each part could have been it's own shorter story separately, "not together."
Then, I would have given each part four or five stars.
It went too many places kinda, distracting the pacing is off in my opinion.
Honestly, my attention wandered after feeling distracted by the story.
it didn't work for me.
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two light skinned parents. I could totally relate, this pulled me right in with the father's expected reaction. "What clever thing is she going to do now?" ?? I am still asking, this question.Each part could have been it's own shorter story separately, "not together."
Then, I would have given each part four or five stars.
It went too many places kinda, distracting the pacing is off in my opinion.
Honestly, my attention wandered after feeling distracted by the story.
it didn't work for me.
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LibraryThing member TooBusyReading
I've been trying to read some of Toni Morrison's books for some time now. I've started and not finished multiple books. I thought this one might work for me.
It is beautifully written, and Ms. Morrison is a great author, but her work just isn't for me. This book is so full of despair, so bitter and
I did find it odd that someone injured in a car wreck would stay with total strangers for weeks on end, never finding a better solution.
This unabridged audio book was wonderfully read by the author. But it is just too dark for me.
It is beautifully written, and Ms. Morrison is a great author, but her work just isn't for me. This book is so full of despair, so bitter and
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judgmental. Skin color is more important than soul. There is, of course, child abuse. As with her other works I've tried, this one is rather strange. I did find it odd that someone injured in a car wreck would stay with total strangers for weeks on end, never finding a better solution.
This unabridged audio book was wonderfully read by the author. But it is just too dark for me.
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LibraryThing member lanewillson
Ms. Morrison's story is so well written that its darkness is too real. Steinbeck is the only other author whose writing for me brings such a visceral and tangible response. I'm still trying to shake off Of Mice and Men .
LibraryThing member novelcommentary
Toni Morrison is one of my favorite authors. Her writing is as insightful as it is beautiful to read. As tragic as her stories are, they still present a nobility of character, wonderful characters that stay with you. This is a slight, beautifully written book with alternating narrators, presenting
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various views of Lula Ann, a very beautiful, very black girl whose mother hardly touched her because she was so dark. "I always knew she didn’t like touching me. I could tell. Distaste was all over her face when I was little and she had to bathe me. Rinse me, actually, after a halfhearted rub with a soapy washcloth. I used to pray she would slap my face or spank me just to feel her touch. " Lula Ann changed her name to Bride as she gained confidence and become part of a growing make up business called Go Girl. The novel weaves in and out of time, giving us various narrators. But the defining moment for Lula Ann is when she testified against one of her teachers, sent her away for child molesting. This made her mother proud and she walked with her hand and hand after the ordeal. Her boyfriend , Booker, walks out on her when he hears that she wants to help the child molester as she is released from prison, 15 years later. Her attempt at some kind gesture does not go well. Three of the novel's characters have some life changing experience with molestation. The Times' critic notes, " Child abuse cuts a jagged scar through Toni Morrison’s “God Help the Child,” a brisk modern-day fairy tale with shades of the Brothers Grimm: imaginative cruelties visited on children; a journey into the woods; a handsome, vanished lover; witchy older women and a blunt moral — “What you do to children matters. And they might never forget.” Their stories haunt them, preventing them from moving on. Only in the end after another tragedy, is there some hope that new life can make them whole. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibleblaster
This is not the book I expected after reading the excerpt ("Sweetness") in The New Yorker. There were a lot of characters/stories in this short novel, though some of these characters were barely realized and their stories were left vague or told in a rushed manner. That said, there were beautiful
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moments and odd, troubling touches worthy of Kafka (rather than Faulkner, which many of her other books brings to mind). I was engaged if not always satisfied with the story. There are haunting themes about parents and children that will probably stay with me long after the details are gone. A minor Morrison is still worthy of a read and though this feels like a sketch, the artist's lines are unmistakable. Show Less
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
God Help The Child, Toni Morrison
For me, this was a tender story about growing up black with all of the pain and hardship that may one day be rewarded with success and joy. The struggles of the children that witness or suffer from the senseless crime and prejudice coming from within their own
When “Sweetness” gives birth to a child with unusual skin color and hair, she rejects her. The child, Lula Ann, grows up feeling neglected and is emotionally scarred. She is blue black, the color of tar, and Sweetness is “high yellow”. The father does not believe that she can be his daughter, but in fact, Sweetness says that probably 20% of white people are walking around with mixed blood from blacks who passed for white, like her grandmother. Her grandmother abandoned her own family and entered the Caucasian world, without looking back.
As Lula Ann grows up, she is the butt of insulting racial remarks and often suffers the abuse of bullies who taunt her about her color. To obtain her mother’s withheld affection, when in grade school, she identifies an innocent teacher as a child molester. The teacher is sent to prison for 15 years and is then rejected by her own family. Lula Ann can never quite get over that transgression, and she eventually fails in her attempt to make it up to the woman.
As a teen, Lula Ann leaves school and takes several jobs, eventually winding up successful as a regional manager of a cosmetics company with her own brand of cosmetics called “You, Girl”. She learns how to take advantage of her stark black color and dresses only in white to accentuate her beauty. She changes her name and calls herself Bride. Her real name is Lula Ann Bridewell. At the time she meets and falls for Booker Starbern, an educated young man, he is not very gainfully employed. He takes occasional gigs playing his trumpet. Music helps him release the anger within him. When his older brother Adam was a child, he was murdered after being sexually assaulted, and Booker has been grieving his loss for most of his life. Like Lula Ann, he is estranged from his family except for one aunt.
After an argument with Lula, when she inadvertently admits to something she did which dredges up his anger and the memories of his deceased brother, he leaves her and she begins to wither. In her mind, she sees herself growing younger and smaller, thinner and less developed, regressing to the hurt and angry child she once was. She attributes this decline of her spirit and mind, to the moment Booker walks out on her. She sets out to find him and in that effort she is injured and weakened even further. She is discovered in her smashed car by a child named Rain and her guardians. Rain had been sexually abused and was found in the street, rain-drenched, by Steve and Evelyn. By choice, they live in a cabin without many modern conveniences. They took Rain into their home and cared for her. There is some question in my mind as to the legality of it, but since her mother was acting as her pimp, this young girl is much safer with the white couple who rescued her. Rain also has many problems to work through because of her mother’s irresponsible and criminal behavior. Steve, Evelyn and Rain tend to Lula Ann’s recovery together. Lula Ann provides the emotional connection to a human being that Rain seeks and that Lula Ann has been searching for, for most of her life.
When Lula Ann recovers, she sets out again to search for Booker. She must find out why he has rejected her and why that little spat destroyed their relationship so completely. When they reunite it begins with violence, but it ends peacefully. Bride realizes that she never really knew Booker that well, they simply had good sex. When a tragedy occurs, it draws them closer together, which followed by a surprise announcement from Lula Ann, suddenly makes Booker mature and gives us our fairytale ending.
The book is a study in stark contrasts of color, station in life, injustice, abuse, devotion, and survival. Most of the characters are suffering in some way because of their own needs and as a result of their own actions. Booker’s Aunt Queen has been with too many men and has too many children that she was unable or unwilling to care for. She deplores the violence of the young because the anger they harbor within their souls enslaves them and retards their development into responsible adults.
The names of the characters seemed somewhat indicative of their station in life. Booker Starbern enjoys reading books and is educated. He writes poetry referring to the stars and Bride notes the fact that when he sees them, they may no longer exist. Bride (Lula Ann) dresses in white and enjoys fashion, hence the name she took. Aunt Queen is the adult that Booker respects. She is the matriarch. Sweetness was the name her mother was given by Lula Ann’s father before he left. Rain was rescued from an abusive life because of the rain. Brooklyn, named for a tough borough, is hardened by her past life. Although she seemed to be able to second guess Lula Ann’s motives, and although she helped her, in the past, she disagreed with what she was doing and viewed her behavior as a sign of weakness. She doesn’t trust Booker. Both Bride and Booker ran away from life when it became too much.
The book opens the door to a racial conversation, as I felt that there were threads of racist beliefs running through the narrative. There are issues of blacks preying on blacks, whites taking advantage of blacks, blacks ridiculing whites and whites rescuing blacks. The biases dominate and define all of the behavior and all of the interactions of the characters. This is a good book for a book group if they can have an honest conversation about race and about life, as it is viewed from both black and white eyes. It is a very different landscape for each. There is also much to discuss about the justice system and the prevalence of sexual abuse in the community.
The book is read expressively and somewhat dreamily by the author, with perfectly modulated tone and inflection.
For me, this was a tender story about growing up black with all of the pain and hardship that may one day be rewarded with success and joy. The struggles of the children that witness or suffer from the senseless crime and prejudice coming from within their own
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community and the anger they harbor towards the white community, can sometimes cripple their growth and keep them from reaching their potential. Emotionally these young characters were unable to let go of their grief and anguish long enough to enable them to move on and become responsible adults.When “Sweetness” gives birth to a child with unusual skin color and hair, she rejects her. The child, Lula Ann, grows up feeling neglected and is emotionally scarred. She is blue black, the color of tar, and Sweetness is “high yellow”. The father does not believe that she can be his daughter, but in fact, Sweetness says that probably 20% of white people are walking around with mixed blood from blacks who passed for white, like her grandmother. Her grandmother abandoned her own family and entered the Caucasian world, without looking back.
As Lula Ann grows up, she is the butt of insulting racial remarks and often suffers the abuse of bullies who taunt her about her color. To obtain her mother’s withheld affection, when in grade school, she identifies an innocent teacher as a child molester. The teacher is sent to prison for 15 years and is then rejected by her own family. Lula Ann can never quite get over that transgression, and she eventually fails in her attempt to make it up to the woman.
As a teen, Lula Ann leaves school and takes several jobs, eventually winding up successful as a regional manager of a cosmetics company with her own brand of cosmetics called “You, Girl”. She learns how to take advantage of her stark black color and dresses only in white to accentuate her beauty. She changes her name and calls herself Bride. Her real name is Lula Ann Bridewell. At the time she meets and falls for Booker Starbern, an educated young man, he is not very gainfully employed. He takes occasional gigs playing his trumpet. Music helps him release the anger within him. When his older brother Adam was a child, he was murdered after being sexually assaulted, and Booker has been grieving his loss for most of his life. Like Lula Ann, he is estranged from his family except for one aunt.
After an argument with Lula, when she inadvertently admits to something she did which dredges up his anger and the memories of his deceased brother, he leaves her and she begins to wither. In her mind, she sees herself growing younger and smaller, thinner and less developed, regressing to the hurt and angry child she once was. She attributes this decline of her spirit and mind, to the moment Booker walks out on her. She sets out to find him and in that effort she is injured and weakened even further. She is discovered in her smashed car by a child named Rain and her guardians. Rain had been sexually abused and was found in the street, rain-drenched, by Steve and Evelyn. By choice, they live in a cabin without many modern conveniences. They took Rain into their home and cared for her. There is some question in my mind as to the legality of it, but since her mother was acting as her pimp, this young girl is much safer with the white couple who rescued her. Rain also has many problems to work through because of her mother’s irresponsible and criminal behavior. Steve, Evelyn and Rain tend to Lula Ann’s recovery together. Lula Ann provides the emotional connection to a human being that Rain seeks and that Lula Ann has been searching for, for most of her life.
When Lula Ann recovers, she sets out again to search for Booker. She must find out why he has rejected her and why that little spat destroyed their relationship so completely. When they reunite it begins with violence, but it ends peacefully. Bride realizes that she never really knew Booker that well, they simply had good sex. When a tragedy occurs, it draws them closer together, which followed by a surprise announcement from Lula Ann, suddenly makes Booker mature and gives us our fairytale ending.
The book is a study in stark contrasts of color, station in life, injustice, abuse, devotion, and survival. Most of the characters are suffering in some way because of their own needs and as a result of their own actions. Booker’s Aunt Queen has been with too many men and has too many children that she was unable or unwilling to care for. She deplores the violence of the young because the anger they harbor within their souls enslaves them and retards their development into responsible adults.
The names of the characters seemed somewhat indicative of their station in life. Booker Starbern enjoys reading books and is educated. He writes poetry referring to the stars and Bride notes the fact that when he sees them, they may no longer exist. Bride (Lula Ann) dresses in white and enjoys fashion, hence the name she took. Aunt Queen is the adult that Booker respects. She is the matriarch. Sweetness was the name her mother was given by Lula Ann’s father before he left. Rain was rescued from an abusive life because of the rain. Brooklyn, named for a tough borough, is hardened by her past life. Although she seemed to be able to second guess Lula Ann’s motives, and although she helped her, in the past, she disagreed with what she was doing and viewed her behavior as a sign of weakness. She doesn’t trust Booker. Both Bride and Booker ran away from life when it became too much.
The book opens the door to a racial conversation, as I felt that there were threads of racist beliefs running through the narrative. There are issues of blacks preying on blacks, whites taking advantage of blacks, blacks ridiculing whites and whites rescuing blacks. The biases dominate and define all of the behavior and all of the interactions of the characters. This is a good book for a book group if they can have an honest conversation about race and about life, as it is viewed from both black and white eyes. It is a very different landscape for each. There is also much to discuss about the justice system and the prevalence of sexual abuse in the community.
The book is read expressively and somewhat dreamily by the author, with perfectly modulated tone and inflection.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
Read the lines about how you treat children carefully in the first few pages, for they are words that come back to haunt the characters time after time. The storyline from various perspectives helps to create the important message of this book. You do not have to let the actions (or sins) or others
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or even your actions in the past force you into a life you don’t want. You have the power to create a life you want, even though it may not be one that has wealth or fame. As usual, Morrison’s characters are varied, realistic and thought-provoking. This is one of my most favorite Toni Morrison novels. Show Less
LibraryThing member MarkMeg
Strong, powerful. Starts out slow and seems to be more focused on sex, but as the story goes along, the color prejudice within the black race seems to be an issue, as well as making it as a woman. Bride, who was born as Lula Ann is the protagonist of the story. She is blue black in color and has to
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contend with the prejudice within her race, as well as from her mother. She comes from a dysfunctional world and meets a white man who is also dysfunctional. He rejects her and she can not understand it. By this time she has been recognized as beautiful and very successful. She chases the man, Booker and eventually catches us with him. At this point she is pregnant, and when they recognize their love for each other and get beyond their dysfunction they are very happy. Integrated within this is the story of child molestation and abuse. This is a very complex story. Show Less
LibraryThing member lilibrarian
Bride, a dark-skinned girl born to a nearly white mother, grew up knowing her mother disapproved of her skin color. When Bride's boyfriend, Booker, walks out on her, Bride determines to discover why and learns how childhood trauma shapes our personalities and grown-up relationships.
LibraryThing member mmoj
I love Toni Morrison. There is such a vibrancy and realness to her work and I think she continues that tradition with God Help the Child. This is the story of Bride, an African-American woman who is at a defining moment in her life brought about by her boyfriend leaving her and something from her
As with anyone this isn't the story of just Bride, it includes others that are in Bride's life. I always enjoy different POV's. Was this as intense as other Morrison books, probably not. But it did make me think of a woman who has seen so much and perhaps realizes that life moments aren't as intense in retrospect as they are when we are younger - we mature and forget that which we swear we'd remember forever - there's an ease and comfort in knowing that life might not get easier, our circumstances don't change - it just gets easier to tell and remember.
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past coming around again.As with anyone this isn't the story of just Bride, it includes others that are in Bride's life. I always enjoy different POV's. Was this as intense as other Morrison books, probably not. But it did make me think of a woman who has seen so much and perhaps realizes that life moments aren't as intense in retrospect as they are when we are younger - we mature and forget that which we swear we'd remember forever - there's an ease and comfort in knowing that life might not get easier, our circumstances don't change - it just gets easier to tell and remember.
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LibraryThing member Writermala
"God Help The Child" is an interesting love story. The book talks about Sweetness' love for her daughter Bride - a love which does not show itself; a love which is strict and stern to enable Bride to survive as a Black woman in this racist world. Unfortunately, Bride does not understand this as a
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child. Descriptions of pedophilia seem unnecessary but are part of the plot. The novel is just the right size to be enthralling and satisfying. I loved it. Show Less
LibraryThing member c.archer
God Help The Child is a good and fast read. I liked the characters and how the story unfolded. There was no excess of anything-thus no wasted words or time. In essence, it is a tale of hurt and healing.
This is masterful storytelling from one of the masters.
This is masterful storytelling from one of the masters.
LibraryThing member rmckeown
Toni Morrison is a national – no an international treasure -- but she is first and foremost, “Our treasure.” At 84, she continues to produce some of the finest works of fiction published today. Her eleventh novel came out in April 2015. When a Morrison novel enters my reading radar, I pounce
God Help the Child is Morrison’s first novel set in the present day. How timely with the events of Ferguson, New York, and Baltimore to name a few. Lula Ann, or Bride – as she calls herself – has a stunning beauty which attracts the attention of men and women alike. Not only gorgeous – I am thinking of Halle Berry – but she has a rare and sensitive intelligence. She also displays a justly confident spirit. As the novel opens, Sweetness says, “It’s not my fault. So you can’t blame me” (3). The event she disavows is the birth of her daughter, Lula Ann. The baby is blue-black, and Sweetness cannot bear to even touch the child. Lula Ann repulses her. The father, Louis, abandons the family, accusing Sweetness of infidelity.
This reminds me of Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby.” In the story, a couple argue and fight over the color of a baby. The husband cruelly says to his wife, “You are not white!” He expels her from the house, and she takes the baby and disappears. But this 19th century story set in Louisiana is the thinnest of shadows of Morrison’s novel. She digs deeply into the psyche of Lula Ann, who
Each chapter has a different Narrator. Sweetness opens and closes the novel, and the others – Bride, Brooklyn, Bride’s best friend at the cosmetics company which employs both of them. Sofia and Rain are also important characters. On several occasions, and omniscient narrator intervenes and spreads lots of insight into the characters.
Morrison’s words overflow with emotions and tension. In a chapter narrated by Sweetness, Morrison writes, “Oh, yeah, I feel bad sometimes about how I treated Lula Ann when she was little. But you have to understand: I had to protect her. She didn’t know the world. There was no point in being tough or sassy even when you were right. Not in a world where you could be sent to a juvenile lockup for talking back or fighting in school, a world where you’d be the last one hired and the first one fired. She couldn’t know any of that or how her black skin would scare white people or make them laugh or trick her” (41). How awful and painful it must be to have to shelter a child from centuries of hate and prejudice. It sickens me and makes me ashamed that my country – the land of freedom – allows the ugly and pernicious actions of some people to result in murder, riots, and mass incarceration.
Read Toni Morrison’s latest novel, God Help the Child and begin to try and understand what African American mothers have experienced for more than 400 years. An inadequate 5 stars.
--Jim, 5/6/15
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and place it on the top of the pile. At 178 pages, God Help the Child packs every bit of joy, anger, hatred, prejudice, love, as any of her works. All this energy and emotion becomes embedded in a story a finely drawn as a silk sheet as it gently glides to cover us. God Help the Child is Morrison’s first novel set in the present day. How timely with the events of Ferguson, New York, and Baltimore to name a few. Lula Ann, or Bride – as she calls herself – has a stunning beauty which attracts the attention of men and women alike. Not only gorgeous – I am thinking of Halle Berry – but she has a rare and sensitive intelligence. She also displays a justly confident spirit. As the novel opens, Sweetness says, “It’s not my fault. So you can’t blame me” (3). The event she disavows is the birth of her daughter, Lula Ann. The baby is blue-black, and Sweetness cannot bear to even touch the child. Lula Ann repulses her. The father, Louis, abandons the family, accusing Sweetness of infidelity.
This reminds me of Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby.” In the story, a couple argue and fight over the color of a baby. The husband cruelly says to his wife, “You are not white!” He expels her from the house, and she takes the baby and disappears. But this 19th century story set in Louisiana is the thinnest of shadows of Morrison’s novel. She digs deeply into the psyche of Lula Ann, who
Each chapter has a different Narrator. Sweetness opens and closes the novel, and the others – Bride, Brooklyn, Bride’s best friend at the cosmetics company which employs both of them. Sofia and Rain are also important characters. On several occasions, and omniscient narrator intervenes and spreads lots of insight into the characters.
Morrison’s words overflow with emotions and tension. In a chapter narrated by Sweetness, Morrison writes, “Oh, yeah, I feel bad sometimes about how I treated Lula Ann when she was little. But you have to understand: I had to protect her. She didn’t know the world. There was no point in being tough or sassy even when you were right. Not in a world where you could be sent to a juvenile lockup for talking back or fighting in school, a world where you’d be the last one hired and the first one fired. She couldn’t know any of that or how her black skin would scare white people or make them laugh or trick her” (41). How awful and painful it must be to have to shelter a child from centuries of hate and prejudice. It sickens me and makes me ashamed that my country – the land of freedom – allows the ugly and pernicious actions of some people to result in murder, riots, and mass incarceration.
Read Toni Morrison’s latest novel, God Help the Child and begin to try and understand what African American mothers have experienced for more than 400 years. An inadequate 5 stars.
--Jim, 5/6/15
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LibraryThing member Dianekeenoy
I listened to this book on audio and it's just incredible. Bride is sophisticated and beautiful black woman who was raised by her mother, Sweetness, who is light skinned. Her father leaves them and her mother raised her without touching or any loving connection. Her reason is that is how Bride will
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be treated because of her dark skin. Hard to imagine but with Toni Morrison doing the actual reading of this book, it's possible to believe. I have all of Toni Morrison's books, but really haven't had a chance to read all of them as yet. I have to say, if Toni Morrison is the reader, I will definitely hunt those on audio out first! Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
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,
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member Onnaday
I read her book the bluest eyes and I notice a theme about Morrison. she writes about color, color of the skin and racism but it's more of a reflection on the character.
I like that Morrison told the story from different perspectives of unique characters. Her use of child molestation throughout the
.
I really liked how Morrison changed Bride from an ugly duckling to a white swan by the way she dressed talked and took charge of her life despite how her mother had disdain for her.
The overall moral of the story is how we as adults look for love and affection and beauty from others to make us better. But we must find the beauty within ourselves.
The title of the book "God help the child" is explained near the end of the novel where Sweetness muses over bride.
It's a seemingly dark tale, a lot is implied but you can still vision the characters in the story where it may seem to leave you hanging but it comes back around full-circle and then you understand what she is saying in her writing. The message of the book shown through clearly and it was beautifully written.
The fantasy portions were very important to the story line if you missed that, then you missed her overall message. Bride had to be re-born within herself to change and to see life differently which is what happened in the end.
Overall the book engaged me. This would make an excellent Book Club read and discussion. A Great Book!
I like that Morrison told the story from different perspectives of unique characters. Her use of child molestation throughout the
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book in the subtle hints and descriptive writing is very disturbing yet, you want to know more about the characters..
I really liked how Morrison changed Bride from an ugly duckling to a white swan by the way she dressed talked and took charge of her life despite how her mother had disdain for her.
The overall moral of the story is how we as adults look for love and affection and beauty from others to make us better. But we must find the beauty within ourselves.
The title of the book "God help the child" is explained near the end of the novel where Sweetness muses over bride.
It's a seemingly dark tale, a lot is implied but you can still vision the characters in the story where it may seem to leave you hanging but it comes back around full-circle and then you understand what she is saying in her writing. The message of the book shown through clearly and it was beautifully written.
The fantasy portions were very important to the story line if you missed that, then you missed her overall message. Bride had to be re-born within herself to change and to see life differently which is what happened in the end.
Overall the book engaged me. This would make an excellent Book Club read and discussion. A Great Book!
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LibraryThing member Kristelh
This short novel by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison is her 11th novel is a story of a daughter with blue black skin who is rejected by her lighter skinned mother. This daughter grows up to be a beauty but growing up was difficult because her parents rejected her and did not show her love. Her
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mother thought she had to prepare her to be treated badly because of her blue black skin. Not one of Ms Morrison's best books. I would not recommend starting with this book because you will never get the beauty of the author's writing in this one. Rating 3.25 Show Less
LibraryThing member AlisonY
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
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.
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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.
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Awards
BCALA Literary Awards (Winner — Fiction — 2016)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2015)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2015-04-21
Physical description
192 p.; 6 inches
ISBN
0307594173 / 9780307594174