The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye is a tragic story about Pecola Breedlove's yearning for acceptance in a world that rejects and ultimately destroys her, but not really. It's more about all the angles from which Pecola is viewed. The plot is secondary, a frame on which Ms. Morrison drapes a quilt depicting the devastating consequences when perceptions, including identity and self-worth, are perverted by racism, greed, ignorance, shame. It is a painful book to read, but I couldn't stop reading it. It is filled with ugliness, but its writing is beautiful. It reveals things about us that are very difficult to love, but I loved it.