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In this novel, Morrison paints a somber picture of the brutal effects of slavery. It examines both the mental and physical trauma caused by slavery as well as its effect on survivors. The book follows the story of Sethe (pronounced "Seth-uh") and her daughter Denver as they try to rebuild their lives after having escaped from slavery.

124 Bluestone, the house they inhabit, is apparently haunted; poltergeist events occur there with an alarming regularity. Because of this, Sethe's youngest daughter, Denver, has no friends and is extremely shy. Howard and Buglar, Sethe's sons, run away from home by the time they are thirteen. Their primary reason was the fear of being killed by their own mother. They do not understand why Sethe murdered Beloved and believe that whatever triggered the infanticide may happen again. Shortly after, Baby Suggs, the mother of Sethe's husband Halle, dies in her bed.

Paul D, one of the slaves from the Sweet Home, the plantation where Baby Suggs, Beloved, Halle, he, and many other slaves had worked in and either been freed or run away from, arrive at 124. He tries to bring a sense of reality into the house. He also tries to make the family move forward in time and leave the past behind. In doing so, he forces the ghost of Beloved out. At first, he seems to be successful, because he leads the family to a carnival, out of the house in years. However, on their way back, they encounter a young woman sitting in front of the house. She has distinct features of a baby and calls herself Beloved. Denver recognizes that she must be a reincarnation of her sister Beloved right away. Paul D, suspicious of her, warns Sethe, but attracted to the young woman, Sethe ignores him. Paul D ends up getting kicked out of the house because Beloved forcefully has sex with him and then uses that as a reason. Without Paul D, the sense of reality and moving time disappears.

Sethe comes to believe that the girl is the daughter whom Sethe murdered by slitting her throat with a handsaw when the child was only two years old, and whose tombstone reads only "Beloved". Beloved's presence consumes Sethe's life to the point where she becomes depleted and even sacrifices her own need for eating, while Beloved grows bigger and bigger. In the climax of the novel Denver, the youngest daughter, reaches out and searches for help from the black community. The black community arrives at 124 to exercise Beloved. However, while Sethe is confused and has a rememory of the schoolteacher coming again, Beloved disappears.

The novel follows in the tradition of slave narratives, but also confronts the more painful and taboo aspects of slavery, such as sexual abuse and violence, which Morrison pushes to the edge of questioning the idea of being human and of being a mother. She explores the effects on the characters, Paul D and Sethe, of trying to repress—and then coming to terms with—the painful memories of their past.

At the outset, the reader is led to assume Beloved is a supernatural, incarnate form of Sethe's murdered daughter. Later, Stamp Paid reveals the story of "a girl locked up by a white man over by Deer Creek. Found him dead last summer and the girl gone. Maybe that's her". Both are supportable by the text. The possibility that Beloved is the murdered child is supported by the fact that she sings a song known only to Sethe and her children; elsewhere, she speaks of Sethe's earrings without having seen them. However, the characters have a psychological need for Beloved to be that dead child returned: Sethe can assuage her guilt over the death of her child, and Denver has a sister/playmate. Toni Morrison's intention (revealed in interviews) was to compel the reader to become active rather than passive and work to discover what is going on.[citation needed]