The inspiration came from a photo of a young girl in a coffin by the Harlem Renaissance photographer James VanderZee. Her boyfriend had shot her, and she kept his identity secret so that he could escape. I wanted the book to really be about the people who didn't know they were living in an era. As background, Morrison offers some scenes of the brutal Virginia country life blacks endured as sharecroppers at the end of the nineteenth century. By contrast, Joe and Violet are initially dazzled by the prospect of life in New York.
Reality sets in.
Despite Joe's attachment to Violet, he falls in love with Dorcas, who is a teenager, then kills her when she tries to leave him. No one wants to turn Joe in. At the funeral parlor, Violet attempts to slash Dorcas's face but is thrown out, running home and freeing her treasured birds. Later she establishes a relationship with Dorcas's aunt. It is the blues song of people who understand suffering and survival.