This study focuses on the cultural and communal traditions embedded in the five novels written by Toni Morrison. It explores how these traditions influence the search for self and place within a given African-American community. Thoroughly researched, the book examines historical and ideological aspects of African-American literature while offering in-depth critical analysis of each Morrison novel. The book ultimately demonstrates that, within each novel, Morrison reconstructs African-American values, traditions, and beliefs in order to show the importance of community to the development and/or dissolution of self and place.