by Toni Morrison


Toni Morrison’s latest novel (or novella) is a compact tale tackling the broad subject of “home”. Frank Money is a veteran  returns to the US after serving in the Korean War. Like most Black soldiers of that time, he’s returning to a country that could care less about his service and the trauma that he’s experienced. Frank works hard at trying to achieve some level of normalcy and overcome the memories that he can’t escape. He receives news that his younger sister, Cee, is in trouble and must pull himself together enough to come to her aid.


As usual, Morrison’s writing is beautiful and descriptive, making even the smallest detail appear paramount to the story. It’s hard to believe that a book that is only about 160 pages long could contain a wealth of storytelling. The plight of Black people in the 1950’s is fully explored here: returning soldiers, travelling the country under Jim Crow laws, medical research exploitation, and much more. Morrison’s incredible talent assures that no matter how many physical pages there are, her stories are always fully told.