Morrison’s writing is frank, unflinching in its approach to ugliness. The story’s two female characters arc from a place of synergy to one of distance over the course of the novel. The surrounding context of racism, injustice and segregation swaddles the story, but never takes center stage. Indeed, this is a black story - no white person has more than a line of dialogue in the work. The ways in which Sula and Nel grow towards and then apart from one another is both distasteful and sympathetic. Morrison really succeeds in making characters whose choices you may not agree with, but fully understand.

Parts of this book did feel a little unresolved. Eva, perhaps my favorite character, is shafted in the second half of the book and isn’t really returned to in any meaningful way, which is a shame. Many other supporting characters, like Shadrack, feel like they are being built up at the beginning of the novel to carry more weight than they do. Some events seem like they should impact the characters more significantly, or at least are not built upon in a way that was fully satisfying. Regardless, a solid work.