Book Review of Sula by Toni Morrison

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UPDATED: 2/5/2023

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192 pages, originally published in 1973

YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:

literary fiction * historical fiction * novels about social/cultural issues

TRAVEL INSPIRATION:

This novel takes place in Ohio, in the fictionalized town of Medallion. The narrative spans a portion of the century that existed between the Civil War’s end and Civil Right’s beginning.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is an African American writer who lived from 1931 to 2019 and was widely acclaimed during her lifetime. She was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and Nobel Prize for Literature. Sula was Toni Morrison’s second novel and predated what is probably her most well-known novel, Beloved, by about 14 years. Her novels are typically aimed at exploring the African American experience and culture and the identity struggles that accompany that journey.

REVIEW OF Sula BY Toni morrison

There is a beautiful, haunting sadness that permeates this novel beginning with the early introduction to National Suicide Day, a solution dreamed up by Shadrack, a World War I veteran returning to town with visible and non-visible scars. Without giving away too much of the plot, there are a series of unfortunate accidents - slight slips of hand or errant strands of hair - that create life-altering and life-hardening ripples in the lives of the characters living in the area of town known as The Bottom.

The very name of the part of town inhabited by its African American population - The Bottom - is rife with injustice itself. The name originated with a white town resident promising some of the best land to an African American, who knew the best land was in ‘the bottom.’ When he came to collect his land, the white man turned the tables and claimed that The Bottom was actually high up in the hills (‘the bottom of heaven’), where the land was poor, instead of being the lush valley floor.

A cadre of fascinating characters - some truly developed, others tangential to the story - live out their lives in this town with only a few forays out to other parts of the country. In some ways, there are parallels between Sula and Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town. The novel follows several characters but most prominently Sula, the title character. Readers first meet Sula in her youth and watch her grow in her understanding of the world - from when she is first made aware of the color of her skin to early friendships and family challenges. The path of her life is about acceptance - what makes some people accepted and acceptable and is that even an important attribute?

Through most of her life, Sula is unwanted and unloved, and rebels in both large and small ways against the world that seems ready to toss her aside. Her one solace is her friendship with Nel, which starts in girlhood and evolves and devolves over the years in a way that is sure to leave readers equally angry with her and sad about her circumstances.

Sula is not a jovial read, but it is sprinkled with the humor of the human condition throughout. Somehow this was my first Toni Morrison novel, and this left me wanting to read more of her works.

While most of my reading is with a physical book, I downloaded the audio book of Sula for a car ride. The audio version is read by the author herself and is such a well-done reading that I would recommend the audio version of this as well.

DISCUSS Sula

For those who have read Sula, which parts of the story most resonated with you? For those who haven’t, do you have another favorite Toni Morrison book you would recommend for our next read by her?

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