Beloved tells the story of Sethe, an escaped slave, living with her 18-year-old daughter Denver on 124 Bluestone Road in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sethe experiences unparalleled trauma throughout her life. Even upon escaping slavery, she could not run from her past. Her eldest daughter, often referred to as Beloved, had died years back, and the spirit of Beloved manifested in the form of a ghost that haunted the house they lived in. In addition, Sethe’s two sons ran away from home at 13 years old, never to be seen again. Sethe’s husband, whom she met on a plantation called Sweet Home in which he and her were slaves, had gone missing when Sethe made her escape from bondage. The mother of her husband with whom she used to live with on Bluestone Road had died soon after Sethe’s sons had run from home. When Paul D, a former slave who had been held in bondage with Sethe at Sweet Home, shows up at Sethe’s door, Sethe is forced to confront her terrible past that seems to keep finding new ways to haunt her.

Beloved is an absolutely grueling story. This book pulls no punches when it comes to detailing the horrors and abuses of slavery around the time of the American Civil War. For this reason, the book serves as an important reminder of America’s past. Beloved tells a unique story from a character's perspective as well. It demonstrates the difficulty of letting go of what you love as well as the possibility to move forward despite a lifetime of setbacks.

Review by: Ethan S.

Ethan is a volunteer at Sylmar Branch Library. He is a 12th grader at Van Nuys High School.

—Dana Eklund, Sylmar Branch Library