Beloved

Written in 1987, Toni Morrison’s Beloved is not only a universally acclaimed classic, but also an invaluable cultural artefactAn item made by humans, especially one of historical interest. which gives the African American recollection of slavery a voice. Morrison compared the book to a “small bench by the road” or a “plaque or wreath” commemorating the legacy of slaves and serving as a habitual reminder of America's troubled history. The novel centres around Sethe, a former slave and mother living with her daughter Denver. Sethe, Denver and several of those around them were formerly enslaved at the plantationA big farm in a hot part of the world on which crops such as coffee, sugar and tobacco are grown. Sweet Home, where they faced unthinkable brutality. Sethe is haunted by her eldest daughter, whom she killed many years before as a perceived act of mercy, believing they would be returned to a lifetime of torture on the plantation — until she appears to return to her family in the form of the young woman Beloved, who quickly becomes the parasitic obsession of Sethe’s life. It has been called the best work of American fiction in modernity, but is still banned in many schools and educational institutions across the USA.