Sula

A Novel

By: Toni Morrison, Jesmyn Ward - introduction

Narrated by: Toni Morrison, Karen Murray

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years • A modern masterpiece about love and kinship, about living in an America birthed from slavery. Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison gives life to characters who struggle with what society tells them to be, and the love they long for and crave as Black women. • With a new introduction by Jesmyn Ward.

“Extravagantly beautiful. . . . Enormously, achingly alive.” —The New York Times

Sula and Nel are born in the Bottom—a small town at the top of a hill. Sula is wild, and daring; she does what she wants, while Nel is well-mannered, a mamma’s girl with a questioning heart. Growing up they forge a bond stronger than anything, stronger even than the dark secret they have to bear. Strong enough, it seems, to last a lifetime—until, decades later, as the girls become women, Sula’s anarchy leads to a betrayal that may be beyond forgiveness.

Critic reviews

“Extravagantly beautiful. . . . Enormously, achingly alive. . . . A howl of love and rage, playful and funny as well as hard and bitter.” —The New York Times

“Exemplary. . . . The essential mysteries of death and sex, friendship and poverty are expressed with rare economy.” —Newsweek

“In characters like Sula, Toni Morrison’s originality and power emerge.” —The Nation

“Enchanting. . . . Powerful.” —Chicago Daily News

“Toni Morrison is not just an important contemporary novelist but a major figure in our national literature.” —The New York Review of Books

“Sula is one of the most beautifully written, sustained works of fiction I have read in some time. . . . [Morrison] is a major talent.” —Elliot Anderson, Chicago Tribune

“As mournful as a spiritual and as angry as a clenched fist . . . written in language so pure and resonant that it makes you ache.” —Playboy

“In the first ranks of our living novelists.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Toni Morrison’s gifts are rare: the re-creation of the black experience in America with both artistry and authenticity.” —Library Journal

“Should be read and passed around by book-lovers everywhere.” —Los Angeles Free Press

Beautiful Read!

Ms. Morrison read so eloquently and easily, but commanding like Shadrack. She was Nell. Her voice was Sula's. Stirring. Smooth. Sweet. Just like the easy, lazy days of my youth in the south. The book felt familiar. The characters, my neighbors.

Pure magic

I loved listening to her read her own work. The story is cohesive and colorful. It is also dark and emotional. A true classic.

CLASSIC but the studio should have edited this

Toni Morrison is beyond reproach! But there were SEVERAL repetitions throughout the book of duplicated passages.... I would hear a chapter opening and listen for a couple of minutes and then it would start over—several parts of the book were duplicated in the studio and it actually got a bit distracting. I guess it’s another opportunity to hear the story but it distracts from what would have otherwise been a near-perfect experience. Please re-release this with a polished editing of the audio. :)

Genius

Toni Morrison is uniquely skilled in giving each of her characters a powerful voice. If you enjoy her other works, this is a must-read.

Emotional Read

Such a sorrowful and inspiring story, so be ready to go through it. Excellently performed, of course, by the Queen herself.