‘The great irony about The Color Purple is that it transcends colour.THE COLOR PURPLE is an inspiring family saga that tells the unforgettable story of a woman who, through love, finds the strength to triumph over adversity and discover her unique voice in the world. ‘ The Color Purple needs no category other than the fact that it is superb’ It is stunning – moving, exciting and wonderful’ ‘One of the most haunting books you could ever wish to read.

‘A story about Black women living in the intersections of racialized and gendered violence, who find liberation through community with each other. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker’s epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker – a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny.Īnd gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.īeloved by generations of readers, The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown.Ībused repeatedly by the man she calls ‘father’, Celie has two children taken away from her and is trapped into an ugly marriage. And then I went back, the next day, and bought every copy they had’Ī powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. ‘I got the book and read it, in one day, when it came out. ‘I think that The Color Purple was the first book that made me think that I could try to be a writer – or that made me aware that a young black woman from the South could write about the South’ Every single time I read this book, I walk away as a slightly better person than I was when I picked it up’ ‘ The Color Purple is my go-to comfort novel.

I love that The Color Purple doesn’t try to soften its blows but is also courageous enough to hold on to a wonderfully affirming faith in possibility, in forgiveness and kindness and hope’ ‘A lush celebration of all that it means to be a black female. ONE OF THE BBC ‘100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD’ THE ICONIC CLASSIC, WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

The color purple book author