The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison

After reading Beloved earlier on in the year, and being slightly underwhelmed by it (I’m sorry!), I was hoping that my next Toni Morrison would make me into more of a fan - thankfully, I was right! The Bluest Eye, Morrison’s first novel, is a beautiful novel which illustrates the lives of a poor black family living in Ohio in post-Depression 1940s. The novel focuses mainly on the daughter Pecola who longs to have blue eyes like her privileged schoolfellows - in reality, she is teased and picked on for her plain and unlovely appearance.

The novel is often extremely harrowing, with scenes of child abuse and rape - so be warned as it can be difficult to read at times. Morrison’s writing was, in my opinion, much more readable in this novel than in Beloved (I think Beloved was intentionally erratic in style but I didn’t click with it), and I found that I became much more attached to the characters. Morrison is truthful and does not hold back, often to the point of discomfort - but this brutal honesty and raw storytelling makes her message all the more poignant.⠀

If you haven’t read any Morrison yet, I’d recommend starting with this one. I’m so glad I gave the author a second chance and I will definitely be reading more of her work after enjoying this novel so much.