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A review by theeditorreads
Love by Toni Morrison
5.0
Synopsis:
Forty years hence, Cosey’s Oceanfront Resort is nothing but a ruin. A girl stops on Sandler Gibbons’ doorstep to ask for directions to an address which he recognises as the Cosey women’s. This leads to the opening of a can of worms from the past when Vida Gibbons, his wife, and his grandson Romen come back home from their work.
The young woman is one Junior Viviane, there for a job as the secretary to Mrs Heed Cosey. A secretary for the purposes of verifying what Heed is writing, which is a biography of Bill Cosey. Romen works there as well, supervised by Christine Cosey.
Review:
This is only my third Morrison and yet the first thing that I have come to anticipate is the build-up the author provides with before the story actually begins. And while it may take some time to get used to and also a little while to wrap your head around it, all of it is worth the peachy prose that is going to hit you next. While this build-up is in the first-person narration, the rest of the story proceeds in the third-person.
Weaving in history with the African-American culture, Love explores the lives of the Blacks, and how before Bill Cosey started that resort, there was no respect and no proper jobs for them in the area. In the author’s books, it always gets worse before it gets better, if ever. Through split narrative, the story jumps back and forth, from forty years back to the present, opening in the 1990s.
I had quite the confusion regarding the identities of Christine and May and Heed in the beginning. Of trying to determine how these three women were related. Everything becomes clearer as the story progresses. There is this one character, L, who doesn’t really make an appearance and neither is her complete identity ever divulged, but she is the first-person observer revealing the past in fits and bursts. To imagine L’s significance after the story ends, as she’s the one who ends it, it was nothing short of magical.
Again, just like in The Bluest Eye, Morrison not only writes about the discrimination Black people face but also the double discrimination that the womenfolk have to endure. What I feel after having read three of Morrison’s books is that while they are not centred around any one theme or issue, she makes a powerful statement about each and every one of those themes/issues throughout her stories.
With aptly named chapters, describing what Cosey was to the women in his life, there are no virtuous characters in the book. Almost everyone is at fault, whether because of turning a blind eye to the reality or whether just being biased. But how did they become like this, especially the women, always at each other’s throat! Bill Cosey is at the root of the problem and how! He’s one of the characters I gradually loved to hate, the narrative went from showing him as a pillar of the Black community to the person he actually is beneath the facade. In the end, what was interesting was how even after so many years have passed since he died, things went on in pretty much the same vein. The closing narrative by L is beautiful and left me with so many thoughts.
P.S. After you’ve gone through the book, do give Elaine Showalter’s review of Love published in The Guardian a read.
I read this book as a part of Toni Morrison Book Club by Aayushi @_penandpapers, where we pick up one book by the author every month. This was the March pick.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings
Forty years hence, Cosey’s Oceanfront Resort is nothing but a ruin. A girl stops on Sandler Gibbons’ doorstep to ask for directions to an address which he recognises as the Cosey women’s. This leads to the opening of a can of worms from the past when Vida Gibbons, his wife, and his grandson Romen come back home from their work.
The young woman is one Junior Viviane, there for a job as the secretary to Mrs Heed Cosey. A secretary for the purposes of verifying what Heed is writing, which is a biography of Bill Cosey. Romen works there as well, supervised by Christine Cosey.
Review:
This is only my third Morrison and yet the first thing that I have come to anticipate is the build-up the author provides with before the story actually begins. And while it may take some time to get used to and also a little while to wrap your head around it, all of it is worth the peachy prose that is going to hit you next. While this build-up is in the first-person narration, the rest of the story proceeds in the third-person.
Like a story that shows how brazen women can take a good man down.
Weaving in history with the African-American culture, Love explores the lives of the Blacks, and how before Bill Cosey started that resort, there was no respect and no proper jobs for them in the area. In the author’s books, it always gets worse before it gets better, if ever. Through split narrative, the story jumps back and forth, from forty years back to the present, opening in the 1990s.
Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy’s.
I had quite the confusion regarding the identities of Christine and May and Heed in the beginning. Of trying to determine how these three women were related. Everything becomes clearer as the story progresses. There is this one character, L, who doesn’t really make an appearance and neither is her complete identity ever divulged, but she is the first-person observer revealing the past in fits and bursts. To imagine L’s significance after the story ends, as she’s the one who ends it, it was nothing short of magical.
She was as lonely as a twelve-year-old watching waves suck away her sand castle.
Again, just like in The Bluest Eye, Morrison not only writes about the discrimination Black people face but also the double discrimination that the womenfolk have to endure. What I feel after having read three of Morrison’s books is that while they are not centred around any one theme or issue, she makes a powerful statement about each and every one of those themes/issues throughout her stories.
I never drink or do dope. It feels good but you miss a lot when your head is fucked.
With aptly named chapters, describing what Cosey was to the women in his life, there are no virtuous characters in the book. Almost everyone is at fault, whether because of turning a blind eye to the reality or whether just being biased. But how did they become like this, especially the women, always at each other’s throat! Bill Cosey is at the root of the problem and how! He’s one of the characters I gradually loved to hate, the narrative went from showing him as a pillar of the Black community to the person he actually is beneath the facade. In the end, what was interesting was how even after so many years have passed since he died, things went on in pretty much the same vein. The closing narrative by L is beautiful and left me with so many thoughts.
P.S. After you’ve gone through the book, do give Elaine Showalter’s review of Love published in The Guardian a read.
I read this book as a part of Toni Morrison Book Club by Aayushi @_penandpapers, where we pick up one book by the author every month. This was the March pick.
Originally posted on:
Shaina's Musings