LOVE, by Toni Morrison, Knopf, 202 pages, $23.95.
When Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize-winner and Princeton professor, spoke about her new novel, "Love," at the annual Book Expo in Los Angeles earlier this year, she said, "It's perfect." At the time I thought she was given to exaggeration, but I've discovered since that she was not joking.
The story of "Love" centers on the late Bill Cosey, entrepreneur, patriarch, ladies' man and owner of the Cosey Hotel and Resort — once known as "the best and best-known vacation spot for colored folk on the East Coast."
Though the characters are fictional, the book is based on actual black-owned vacation resorts prior to the civil-rights movement, such as those in Florida, New Jersey and Michigan.
Long since closed when the novel opens, the resort has become a mansion where Heed, Cosey's widow, and Christine, his granddaughter, live together as overt enemies. Interestingly enough, Heed and Christine are contemporaries — Cosey married Heed when she was very young.
Junior Viviane, a woman recently out of "correctional," comes to the mansion to answer an ad placed by Heed for a companion/secretary to help her write the history of the Cosey resort. In short order, Junior seduces the teenage grandson of Vida Gibbons, who once worked at the resort. Junior quickly becomes fascinated with the deceased Cosey through his pictures and stories. In flashbacks, the reader learns about Cosey's strange life, his suspicious death, where he got his money, the fight that occurred over his coffin and his disputed will. The author also explores the lives of the various women in Cosey's life.
In the process, Morrison endeavors to tell what the civil rights movement of the 1960s meant to these people, who are enjoying an upscale standard of living they are worried about losing. They aren't sure civil rights reform is a good thing.
Without exception, the characters are fascinating, but they are also seamy — engaging in vile, disturbing acts that include murder, rape, gang rape, prostitution and arson, among other things. It seems that Morrison is at her best when she is describing bad people.
The writing is, as you would expect from a highly respected novelist, beautiful and lyrical, fitting the characters perfectly. Morrison's ear for dialogue is exceptional, as each character moves and speaks with a different but equally compelling voice. Much of the narrative is so captivating that a reader may be tempted to stop and reread various sections. To hear Morrison read from her own work must be a spectacular experience.
The book is enthralling throughout, but the question arises: Is love intended in an ironic sense? Because little of it is found in these pages. Sometimes it seems the author is preaching and putting African-American history in context. Other times, she is exploring in copious detail the unfortunate events of some very sad people.
You might want to invite these characters over to the house, but you wouldn't want them to stay overnight.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com