Publish Date: 1987 Awards: 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction; 1988 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; 1988 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award; 1988 Melcher Book Award; 1988 Lyndhurst Foundation Award; 1988 Elmer Holmes Bobst Award
Inspired by the story of Margaret Garner, the novel is set in the aftermath of the American Civil War and follows Sethe, a formerly enslaved woman, and her family as they live in a house haunted by what they believe is the ghost of Sethe’s daughter. When a mysterious young woman appears in the house, the family is forced to confront Sethe’s unthinkable acts and Sethe herself will do anything to atone for her actions.