Sula is the type of story that pulls you in slowly then locks you
into a fantastical tale with eyes peeled and ears eavesdropping on the lives of
black folks between 1919 – 1965 in a place called the Bottom of Medallion, Ohio.
Readers are introduced to colorful, quirky, intriguing, and mystical characters
whose lives intertwine based on their beliefs in omens and the energy they give
each other.
Sula and Nel have been friends since they were kids. Sula is from
a family whose matriarch, Eva Peace, “sat in a wagon on the third floor of her
rooming house and directed the lives of her children, friends, strays and a
constant stream of boarders.” There were no rules. Nel grew up the complete
opposite, living in a house governed by rules and neatness. These two girls
were inseparable until Sula went off to college and Nel remained in the Bottom,
got married and had three kids.
Ten years later, Sula came back to the Bottom. She was now a
seductress, evil, conniving, and complicated. Yet she yearned for the
friendship she had Nel which turned sour once she took Nel’s husband as a lover
and then discarded him like the others. Some folks were in awe of her and while
others were afraid of her (holding their husbands tighter, preventing their
kids from being near her, etc.).
Toni Morrison weaved a moving story filled with great dialogue, well-rounded
characters, in-depth descriptions showing the struggles of men and women trying
to survive and delving into the reasons
for the fragility and survival of broken marriages and the dysfunction of
families. All the while showing how folks react when they believe in omens and how
change over time can affect a place that was once simple.
I was definitely wrapped up in this powerful tale! Two thumbs all the way
up!
Some of my
favorite lines:
“No. I come to see about you. But now
that you opened it up, I may as well close it.” Nel’s fingers closed around the
brass rail of the bed. Now she would ask her. “How come you did it, Sula?”
There was a silence
but Nel felt no obligation to fill it.
Sula stirred a
little under the covers. She looked bored as she sucked her teeth. “Well, there
was this space in front of me, behind me, in my head. Some space. And Jude
filled it up. That’s all. He just filled up the space.”
“You mean you
didn’t even love him?” The feel of the brass was in Nel’s mouth. “It wasn’t
even loving him?”
Sula looked
toward the boarded-up window again. Her eyes fluttered as it she were about to
fall off into sleep.
“But…” Nel held
her stomach in. “But what about me? What about me? Why didn’t you think about
me? Didn’t I count? I never hurt you. What did you take him for if you didn’t
love him and why didn’t you think about me?” And then “I was good to you Sula,
why don’t that matter?”
Rating: 5 Stars
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