Home

When I found out Toni Morrison had a new book out, I put it on hold. I picked it up and it looked interesting, but I had other books to read that were tugging harder at my interest than Home. Then, I noticed on Monday that the book was due today and I couldn't renew it, as someone had a hold on it. (Or more likely, many someones.) Normally, the suggestion of reading a Morrison book in a couple days would seem laughable, but Home is her shortest work yet. I flipped through the slim book and saw blank pages and knew it was a possible feat.

Home is the story of Frank Money, a solider who returns home from the Korean War. He must confront his past (both his childhood and the trauma of the war) as he tries to find his place back home. Here in America his younger sister has experienced her own trauma and Frank is desperate to rescue her. The prose is breathtaking, as everything by Toni Morrison tends to be. All the hype about her writing is well-deserved; she really is that good. Home is a more accessible book than some of her other novels and not as striking, but a worthwhile read nonetheless.