Home

In a pleasing return to the succinct statements of her early books such as Sula and The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison's latest novel conjoins three literary traditions -- melodrama, Bildungsroman, and the Picaresque.

A rescue mission fuels the melodrama.  In his quest to save his sister, penniless Korean War veteran Frank Money contends with mainstream American racism and his private demons -- haunting memories of war-time violence -- as he travels from Washington state to Georgia to deliver sister Cee from the hands of a menacing villain.

The coming of age story (Bildungsroman) unfolds as Frank struggles to find himself, freeing his conscience from the torments of war.  To clear his mind for a rescue back in Georgia, Frank must conduct a hasty, self-styled recovery from PTSD, a mission at which he gradually succeeds thanks to the magnanimous spirits and deeds of African American allies he meets along the way.

The Picaresque aspects of Frank's coast-to-coast odyssey -- he is broke most of the time, beholden to the kindness of strangers -- are cross-stitched against Cee's unwitting descent into an unlikely chamber of hell.  The counterpoint between Frank's travels and Cee's domestic agony lends old-fashioned suspense and pleasure -- Will Frank make it home in time??

Home is an enjoyable, unpredictable, yet conventional adventure novel -- all the more surprising given Toni Morrison's international reputation as a literary maverick.  Home offers memorable lessons about war, race in America, heroism and its opposites:  cruelty and cowardice.  Ms. Morrison fleshes out the action in her ever-sturdy, ominous and prophetic voice.  The novel goes down quickly and promises additional pleasure in rereading.