Jadine is a light-skinned black woman, called 'yalla' by the local islanders, seen of as prim and proper because she lives in France and is a fashion model. When she says to herself, '.but if you think you can get away with telling me what a black woman is or ought to be.', well that really spoke to me on so many levels, as I'm sure it will speak to a lot of black women. Out of all the women in the book, she seems to be the only one not willing to be limited by her gender and race. Unlike the other women portrayed in this book, she's not portrayed as maternal at all additionally she has unique dreams and aspirations and doesn't feel the need at all to fall back into the traditional ways of thinking. I always like the rebel women and I think she is exactly that. I read this book as a story of many tensions, tensions between couples, tensions about old secrets, race, responsibilities, and dreams.įor me, the most important character in this book is Jadine.

A sailor, Son, who has abandoned ship, enters their lives and that's when things get interesting. In this novel we meet retired rich American Valerian Street living on the L'Isle des Chevaliers with his much younger wife, Margaret, two African-American servants and their niece, Jadine, who is visiting from France. It turns out that like with most Toni Morrison books, it's impossible to summarize everything there's just too much to talk about. I think the tropical Caribbean setting and all the talk of candy and flowers fooled me into thinking that this would be one of Toni Morrison's simpler reads.

Too much foliage and much too much sleep.'- Toni Morrison, Tar Baby

Tar Baby by Toni Morrison