Motherlove in Shades of Black: The Maternal Psyche in the Novels of African American Women

This book closely examines the mother figure in six works by African American women at various times in American history: Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Pauline Hopkins's Contending Forces, Nella Larsen's Passing, Gwendolyn Brooks's Maud Martha, Alice Walker's The Color Purple, and Toni Morrison's Beloved. It studies how the mother in each novel negotiates the ragged, hostile landscape of a prohibitive environment to love, protect, and raise her children. Delving far deeper than surface explanations, it is informed by psychological analysis to reveal the forces that create the unique tensions of the African American mother's life, her inspired strategies for survival, and the character of the nurturing she gives her children.