Nel Wright and Sula Peace are two young Black girls, best friends growing up in a small town in Ohio in the aftermath of World War I. Together, they dream of a different life—one that is richer, more fun, and, above all, freer. Sula is sassy, rebellious, and daring; she soon decides to set out to explore the wider world—the great American cities shimmering with promise during those Roaring Twenties. Nel, on the other hand, will remain quietly rooted in her hometown, dutifully fulfilling the roles of mother and wife that a male-dominated society has always assigned to women.

Forty years later, Nel and Sula reunite, confront each other, and clash. A hymn to friendship and emancipation in a society riddled with prejudice, Toni Morrison’s second novel (published in the United States in 1973) sets the stage for her entire body of work to come and remains, half a century later, strikingly relevant.