318 pages
English language
Published April 4, 1998 by A.A. Knopf.
In Paradise - her first novel since she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature - Toni Morrison gives us a bravura performance. As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all-black town worth the pain," assault the nearby Convent and the women in it.
From the town's ancestral origins in 1890 to the fateful day of the assault, Paradise tells the story of a people ever mindful of the relationship between their spectacular history and a void "Out there . . . where random and organized evil erupted when and where it chose."
It’s unfortunate that my last Morrison novel is a DNF, but this is a case of “I’m too dumb for this.” I made it to 50%, and there some parts I enjoyed a lot. Mavis’s story was a highlight for me. There are some both hilarious and sad small town politics. I liked the overarching premise of a group of women being targeted because they just… exist without men.
Really liked this story. Not many people know about exodusters, so very cool to have a story that incorporates that history. But also important things to say about the price you will pay for violating norms, being free, being happy...
