TITLE: BELOVED AUTHOR: Toni Morrison DATE PUBLISHED: 1987 DATE READ: August 2008 NOTES: Beloved recounts the slave experience in the late 19th century in the southern states of America. It is a complex, multi-layered work with the time switching backwards and forwards as the details of the tale are gradually revealed to us. A challenging work that leaves the reader pondering over many aspects. Among the themes explored are memory and forgetting, sexual and physical abuse, child murder, the deliberate destruction of the slave families leaving parents fearful of becoming attached to their children in case they are snatched away from them. Morrison (cleverly) depicts the main slave owners in the narrative, the Garners, as well-meaning people. But the writing makes clear that there can be no such thing as a “good” slave owner. Morrison makes us work hard….. but it is a rewarding, magical read that will stay with you long after.