《寵兒》

Author： Toni Morrison

Publisher： Vintage； Reprint edition

Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery， this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe， its protagonist， was born a slave and escaped to Ohio， but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home， the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby， who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word： Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope， Beloved is a towering achievement.

無所畏懼地直視奴隸制的深淵，這本引人入勝的小說將歷史寫成如《出埃及記》一樣強大，如搖籃曲一般親密的故事。女主角黑奴Sethe逃到俄亥俄，雖然這已是18年前的往事，但往事的夢魘一刻也不曾停止過對她的糾纏。新家時常鬼魂出沒，而那死去的嬰兒無名無姓，墓碑上只刻著：寵兒。全書充滿苦澀的詩意和緊張的懸念，是一部巔峰之作。