“Blind date w/a banned book” is written across the nondescript brown paper bag. Of course I was going to read whatever was inside.

My friend, Sally, didn’t know the contents when she purchased it. She just knew I would be intrigued and bought the book when she saw it on one of her travels.

The handwritten description on the bag says, “A family history with themes of flight, this book got into hot water for its visual representations of racism, sex, and obscene language—but remains a study in writing identity.”

The book is Song of Solomon (Vintage Books, 1977) by Toni Morrison.

This wasn’t easy to get through for a lot of reasons. But I pushed through, and feel like I’m better for having done so.

The novel is a coming of age book. But it’s more than the life of Macon “Milkman” Dead; it’s the people close to him, those he grew up with and those he never knew.

The book is set in the mid-20th century, capturing the strife of Black people at the time as well as that of their ancestors.

I doubt I would have naturally gravitated to this book. All the more reason I’m grateful for having been gifted it.

Take your time. It gets better as it progresses.