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4.0 

The Color Purple

By Alice Walker
The Color Purple by Alice Walker digital book - Fable

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Publisher Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, this novel about a resilient and courageous woman has become a Broadway show and a cultural phenomenon.

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick


Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, despised by the society around her and abused by her own family. She strives to protect her sister, Nettie, from a similar fate, and while Nettie escapes to a new life as a missionary in Africa, Celie is left behind without her best friend and confidante, married off to an older suitor, and sentenced to a life alone with a harsh and brutal husband.
 
In an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear, Celie begins writing letters directly to God. The letters, spanning twenty years, record a journey of self-discovery and empowerment guided by the light of a few strong women. She meets Shug Avery, her husband’s mistress and a jazz singer with a zest for life, and her stepson’s wife, Sophia, who challenges her to fight for independence. And though the many letters from Celie’s sister are hidden by her husband, Nettie’s unwavering support will prove to be the most breathtaking of all.
 
The Color Purple has sold more than five million copies, inspired an Academy Award–nominated film starring Oprah Winfrey and directed by Steven Spielberg, and been adapted into a Tony-nominated Broadway musical. Lauded as a literary masterpiece, this is the groundbreaking novel that placed Walker “in the company of Faulkner” (The Nation), and remains a wrenching—yet intensely uplifting—experience for new generations of readers.

This ebook features a new introduction written by the author on the twenty-fifth anniversary of publication, and an illustrated biography of Alice Walker including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

The Color Purple is the 1st book in the Color Purple Collection, which also includes The Temple of My Familiar and Possessing the Secret of Joy.
 

591 Reviews

4.0
Slightly Smiling Face“Really love Celie since the start. How much these women in the book is impactful, strong, and powerful with every page. It just gave much insight and appreciate to A. W’s work.”
Characters change and growColorful personalitiesMulti-layered charactersBeautifully writtenEasy to readInsightfulInspirationalMeaningful
Loudly Crying Face“Can’t believe it took me so long to read this book. So heartbreaking but what an ending. I’ve never read a book where each and every character’s complexity is shown so well”
Reviewed in:Black to Front
Characters change and growMulti-layered charactersEasy to readHeartbreakingTragic
Loudly Crying Face“The Color Purple has to be one of the best books I have ever read, if not the best book I’ve read this year. The writing was so powerful, and the letter format did so much to tell the story. I loved Celie and Nettie and the way the two realize their potential and become remarkable women alongside each other despite being separated for so long. This novel is a powerful historical piece that shows the brutality of Jim Crow era America as well as the resilience of black women. Truly a great novel.”
Reviewed in:Athenian Reads
Characters change and growDiverse charactersBeautifully writtenPoeticImmersive settingEnlighteningHeartbreakingMeaningfulThought-provoking
Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes“I don’t think I put this down once I picked it up. I loved it so much. Growing with Celie and getting to see her come into herself was beautiful. She’s been through so much yet never stopped loving people. I also loved that as she started having her voice heard she started writing to Nettie instead of God. She says something about God being the one to listen, so writing Nettie just seems to show such a great side to their relationship.”
Reviewed in:Athenian Reads
Characters change and growMulti-layered charactersFast-pacedHopeful
Slightly Smiling Face
Characters change and growDiverse charactersMulti-layered charactersOriginal writingComing of ageHeartbreakingThought-provokingAbuseRacismViolence

About Alice Walker

Alice Walker (b. 1944), one of the United States’ preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other novels include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, and Possessing the Secret of Joy. In her public life, Walker has worked to address problems of injustice, inequality, and poverty as an activist, teacher, and public intellectual.

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