God Help the Child

A Novel

By: Toni Morrison

Narrated by: Toni Morrison

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A New York Times Notable Book • This fiery and provocative novel from the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner weaves a tale about the way the sufferings of childhood can shape, and misshape, the life of the adult.

At the center: a young woman who calls herself Bride, whose stunning blue-black skin is only one element of her beauty, her boldness and confidence, her success in life, but which caused her light-skinned mother to deny her even the simplest forms of love. There is Booker, the man Bride loves, and loses to anger. Rain, the mysterious white child with whom she crosses paths. And finally, Bride’s mother herself, Sweetness, who takes a lifetime to come to understand that “what you do to children matters. And they might never forget.”

“Powerful.... A tale that is as forceful as it is affecting, as fierce as it is resonant.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

©2015 Toni Morrison (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Utterly compelling . . . Morrison remains an incredibly powerful writer who commands attention.” –Roxane Gay, The Guardian

“God Save the Child is superb, its story gliding along the tracks of Morrison’s utterly assured prose.” –Charles Finch, USA Today (critic's pick)

“Morrison is such a masterful writer that even those who don’t prefer stream of conscious novels may find them sucked into these minds, turning page after page of this short novel until they’ve finished the book in one sitting.” –Sarah Hutchins, Portland Book Review

God Help Us All

I purchased the hardcover of this book - I purchase the hardcover of all her books, when possible. But, when I learned Toni Morrison recorded the narration for the audiobook I decided to listen instead of read.
If you read Toni Morrison, you understand she is intimately tied to each of her characters, an invisible and unimaginable adhesive binds them, so hearing them brought to life under the guidance of Toni's voice is a rare gift.
This story is not flowery language, it is history and legacy and good words that strike through the marrow to pin to the wall that skeleton all our flesh has hardened over. This book is lesson and warning. What becomes of a child refused basic human kindness?

Black Girl Magic

A brief magical story of love and the lies we tell ourselves about it. No doubt Bride's black is beautiful. And listening to Ms. Morrison read her own work is adds an additional layer of magic.

Read for Book Club

Great narration. The story was very interesting. A typical Morrison read. Glad I read it.

Willie Holiday Sings

Beautiful, realistic presentation of the effects of harmful childhood experiences and toxic stresses maturing into and throughout adult life. In the past, these events were not even considered to have such deleterious consequences in life. Tony Morrison's excellent poetic prose, opens our eyes and truly expresses that reality.

fantastic but a little confusing

I really liked the book. I think the characters were really well thought of and they had good story arcs but it was a little confusing having every chapter be a different character and the story not matching up

100 yards wide and 1,000 fathoms deep

If I could start this selection now, I would do it when I am going on a road trip. I would listen to the whole story in a relatively short period of time, because I think its real power is in the depth of its development. The story felt 100 yards wide and 1,000 fathoms deep. By stretching out this listen over weeks, I believe I lost nuances of the characters, and diminshed the impact of the story...but I was still drawn in.

Too much going on. Not enough happening.

The story seems to ramble more than any other of her works. It's a feast for the listener because of the authors decadent word play. However word play alone is not enough to sustain a story. I need more. As usually the author's quiet narration is an added bonus as you really come to feel the tone and texture of the charter dialogue and the intended accent of their speech.

GHTC - Brief review

After I learned how to follow the story I was drawn in to her every tone. I feel fortunate to be able to listen to Toni read to me. I don't want to give any spoilers but this was a sad and lovely story. Some parts were hard to listen to (due to content) and others made my heart smile. It would make for an amazing film.

Hauntingly Fascinating!

Typical Toni Morrison masterpiece - Raw, Real & Riveting...,Its also wonderfully narrated & performed. I plan to listen again!

God help the parents & especially the single moms

Tony Morrison created characters weak enough to be entirely credible and strong enough to bear the weight of her sometimes transcendent prose. A gift of God. Amen