Please note: This is a summary and analysis of the book and not the original book.

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison is a dramatic novel that focuses on how adults are affected by what happened to them when they were children. Bride, a successful, young black woman, becomes who she is because her lighter-skinned mother had trouble accepting and loving her. Bride remakes herself in order to leave behind her past. 

When Lula Ann Bridewell is born, her mother is ashamed of her because her skin is such a dark black. Lula Ann's mother and father are both lighter skinned. Her mother is so upset that she temporarily considers smothering Lula Ann or giving her to an orphanage. In the end she keeps her but teaches her to call her by the name Sweetness instead of Mama. 

When Lula Ann grows up, she begins calling herself Bride and wearing all white clothing because someone told her it would accentuate her dark skin.... 

Inside this Instaread summary & analysis of God Help the Child:

• Summary of the book 
• Introduction to the important people in the book 
• Analysis of themes and the author's style 

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