BelovedBeloved
Score Classic
What it's about
In 1873, Sethe, who escaped slavery eighteen years earlier, lives with her teenage daughter Denver in a house outside Cincinnati that is haunted by the furious ghost of her baby girl. When Paul D, a man who was enslaved with her on a Kentucky farm, comes back into her life, he drives the ghost out. Soon after, a young woman who calls herself Beloved appears, and Sethe has to face the past she's tried to forget.
Why it's worth reading
It won the Pulitzer Prize and was voted the best American novel of the previous twenty-five years in a 2006 New York Times survey of writers. Morrison won the Nobel Prize in 1993.
You'll love it if you liked
The Underground Railroad
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
The Sound and the FuryGood to know
It's not told in order, and the truth comes out gradually. It includes graphic violence of slavery, including sexual violence.
By the numbers
- Readers43 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics97 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller65 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #37 of the 309 literary novels we rank
- #107 of the 762 classics we rank
- #335 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving, Thought-provoking
More by Toni Morrison
If you like this, read next
The Master and Margarita
The Lord of the Rings
East of Eden
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
War and Peace
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Quick answers
Is Beloved worth reading?
Yes. It won the Pulitzer Prize and was voted the best American novel of the previous twenty-five years in a 2006 New York Times survey of writers. It ranks #335 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 80.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Beloved about?
In 1873, Sethe, who escaped slavery eighteen years earlier, lives with her teenage daughter Denver in a house outside Cincinnati that is haunted by the furious ghost of her baby girl. When Paul D, a man who was enslaved with her on a Kentucky farm, comes back into her life, he drives the ghost out. Soon after, a young woman who calls herself Beloved appears, and Sethe has to face the past she's tried to forget.
How long does it take to read Beloved?
About 9 hours (362 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What awards has Beloved won?
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner (1988).
What should I read after Beloved?
If you liked it, try The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers or The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.