The Bluest Eye is a short melancholy piece around a black family living in Ohio after the Great Depression. It's tragic not only because the conditions there were so bad and the emotional wounds of the family are so deep, but also because everyone seems to think this miserable state of affairs is normal, and the wounded souls produced by prejudices carry on. 
 The dialogue is sparse and maybe a little wooden, but the descriptions of this book are stark and magnificent. And this was Morrison's first novel?