A novel set in Ruby, a small, all-Black town in Oklahoma founded in the mid-twentieth century by families who had endured rejection even from lighter-skinned Black communities. Nearby stands a former convent where a group of women have found shelter. As tension grows, the townspeople come to see the women as a threat. Morrison explores the longing for a safe haven, the harm done by exclusion and rigid ideas of purity, and the different ways history is remembered and told.
Quotes
Born lost. Take over the world and still lost.
The screams of a hurt woman were indistinguishable from everyday traffic.
Which was what love was: unmotivated respect.
Now they will rest before shouldering the endless work they were created to do down here in paradise.