In fact her maturity and blood kinship converted her passion to fever, so it was more affliction than affection. It literally knocked her down at night, and raised her up in the morning, for when she dragged herself off to bed, having spent another day without his presence, her heart beat like a gloved fist against her ribs. And in the morning, long before she was fully awake, she felt a longing so bitter and tight it yanked her out of a sleep swept clean of dreams.

In 1993 Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In May 2006 The New York Times Book Review named Beloved the best American novel publiToni Morrisond in the previous twenty-five years. I have no idea what his real instincts are in terms of race.

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18 1931) is an American novelist editor and professor. She won the Nobel Prize in 1993 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for Beloved. She also was commissioned to write the libretto for a new opera Margaret Garner first performed in 2005.