Love (2003) is the eighth novel by Toni Morrison. Written in Morrison's non-linear style, the novel tells of the lives of several women and their relationships to the late Bill Cosey. Cosey was a charismatic hotel owner, and the people around him were affected by his life — even long after his death. The main characters are Christine, his granddaughter and Heed, his widow. The two are the same age and used to be friends but some forty years after Cosey's death they are sworn enemies, and yet share his mansion. Again Morrison uses split narrative and jumps back and forth throughout the story, not fully unfolding until the very end. The characters in the novel all have some relation to the infamous Bill Cosey. Similar to the concept of communication between the living and the dead in her 1987 novel Beloved, Morrison introduced a character named Junior; she was …
Love (2003) is the eighth novel by Toni Morrison. Written in Morrison's non-linear style, the novel tells of the lives of several women and their relationships to the late Bill Cosey. Cosey was a charismatic hotel owner, and the people around him were affected by his life — even long after his death. The main characters are Christine, his granddaughter and Heed, his widow. The two are the same age and used to be friends but some forty years after Cosey's death they are sworn enemies, and yet share his mansion. Again Morrison uses split narrative and jumps back and forth throughout the story, not fully unfolding until the very end. The characters in the novel all have some relation to the infamous Bill Cosey. Similar to the concept of communication between the living and the dead in her 1987 novel Beloved, Morrison introduced a character named Junior; she was the medium to connect the dead Bill Cosey to the world of the living. The storytelling techniques in Love, namely the split narrative, suggest a recent trend in Morrison's literature that divides the plot among different time periods.
Love, it said, and then a story of lives entangled in hate unfolded. So much of it that even a cathartic recovery still left the bitter atoma of hate permeating the air.
So it goes.
Morrison really likes to mess with you, I swear. What an absolute emotional abusive mess we have here.
She comes at the idea of love from multiple directions - family, romantic, healthy or not. She also explores what it is and isn’t, and what people think it is.
At the center is Bill Cosey and the women he impacted. The women internalize the patriarchal world they live in, they act in ways that reflect their traumas. So they never blame Cosey, just each other, and it’s a nasty mess. There’s some closure and healing in the end, but I can’t stop using the word “messy” to describe the state of affairs.
I think this is one that would reward a reread because of the full picture you get by the end.
Favorite quotes:
Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just …
Morrison really likes to mess with you, I swear. What an absolute emotional abusive mess we have here.
She comes at the idea of love from multiple directions - family, romantic, healthy or not. She also explores what it is and isn’t, and what people think it is.
At the center is Bill Cosey and the women he impacted. The women internalize the patriarchal world they live in, they act in ways that reflect their traumas. So they never blame Cosey, just each other, and it’s a nasty mess. There’s some closure and healing in the end, but I can’t stop using the word “messy” to describe the state of affairs.
I think this is one that would reward a reread because of the full picture you get by the end.
Favorite quotes:
Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy’s.
They battled on as though they were champions instead of sacrifices.
