BVBook Verdict
Essential Read

The Bluest Eye

by Toni Morrison · 1970

Literary Fiction · ranked #27 in category

In 1941 Ohio, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove, a Black girl surrounded by poverty and violence, prays for blue eyes — believing that beauty will make her lovable and save her. Morrison's debut novel is an unflinching examination of internalised racism, self-hatred and the damage of impossible beauty standards imposed from outside.

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The verdict

Category
Literary Fiction
First published
1970 · 1970s
Author
Toni Morrison
Standing
Essential Read

About Literary Fiction

Literary fiction sits at the intersection of fine writing and serious storytelling — novels that reward attention and stay with you long after the last page. These are the books that alter your sense of what's possible in prose.

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