Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel "Beloved" takes place in Cincinnati after the Civil War and is loosely based on the life of Margaret Garner, an enslaved woman who escaped Kentucky in 1856 with her extended family. Subject to capture under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Garner was so determined to protect her children from being returned to slavery that she killed her youngest daughter – and was attempting to kill her remaining children – when US Marshalls broke into the Ohio cabin where the family was sheltering, awaiting further passage north. 

If you’d like to make a suggestion for future reading send us your recommendations on the Big Book Club Podcast page on the Arlington Public Library website.

Episode Links

This episode:

• “Driven toward madness: the fugitive slave Margaret Garner and tragedy on the Ohio” by Nikki Taylor.
• “The Black Book" 1974, edited by Toni Morrison
• "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
•  Tulsa Race Massacre
• 1873 Colfax Massacre

We're Reading and Watching

• Jennie – “Spy X Family” by Tatsuta Endo and “Legends and Lattes” by Travis Baldree 
• Pete – “Chain Gang All-Stars” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and “Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls” by Ann Martin 

Upcoming book:

• "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner