God Help the Child

God Help the Child is a novel by American writer Toni Morrison. The book is her 11th novel. News of the book, as well as the title and opening line were released in December of 2014.[1]

On February 9th, 2015, The New Yorker published an excerpt from the work under the title Sweetness.[2]

It was first published by Alfred A. Knopf on April 30th, 2015.[3]

Plot

A young girl with blue-black skin is neglected and abused by the light skinned parents who are ashamed of her.

Reception

Morrison and her publishers announced they were publishing the book in December of 2014 causing Gawker to jokingly proclaim it the best novel of 2015 based on the synopsis and Morrison's previous work alone.[4] The novel was listed by publications including The Globe & Mail, Publisher's Weekly and The New York Times as one of their most anticipated book releases of 2015.[5][6][7]

Upon release the novel received mixed reviews. Artist Kara Walker writing for The New York Times praised Morrison for her "loving attention to the textures and sounds of words."[8] Ron Charles writing for The Washington Post compared the novel unfavourably to Morrison's debut novel The Bluest Eye criticizing the characters in her latest work as people with "no interior life."[9] Similarly the review for The Independent complained that the characters "too didactic on the page: prototypes for an idea rather than real people."[10]

References

  1. ↑ Flood, Allison. "Toni Morrison to publish new novel on childhood trauma". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Morrison, Toni. "Sweetness". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Toni Morrison to release new novel, 'God Help the Child,' April 30". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Parham, Jason. "Toni Morrison Already Wrote the Best Book of 2015". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Medley, Mark. "The 50 most anticipated books of 2015 (the first half, anyway)". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Williams, John. "New Books for the New Year". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2015". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  8. ↑ Walker, Kara. "Toni Morrison’s ‘God Help the Child’". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Charles, Ron. "Toni Morrison’s familar, flawed ‘God Help the Child’". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  10. ↑ IQBAL, RAZIA. "God Help The Child by Toni Morrison, book review: Pain and trauma live just under the skin". Retrieved 15 April 2015.