Walker was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983, becoming the first African-American woman to receive this honour. The Color Purple has become a cornerstone of African-American literature and intersectional feminist writing. This powerful feminist story explores a journey of self-realisation, empowerment, and self-worth, breaking the silence on domestic violence, and centring the resilience, bravery, and companionship of Black women. As this epistolary novel unfolds, the lives and experiences of Black women living in the American South reveal the power of female relationships, and the complicated dynamics of race, sexuality, and violence.

When Celie is separated from her sister Nettie and forced to marry a cruel and abusive farmer, her letters to both God and Nettie sustain her hope for her sister’s future, despite the barriers of distance, time, and silence. In the opening pages of Alice Walker’s classic 1982 novel The Color Purple, we read a letter written by 14-year-old Celie, detailing the sexual abuse she experiences by the man she calls ‘father’. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me.' I listened to The Color Purple on audiobook, and I enjoyed hearing about a different time and world, and triumphed in Celie’s long journey towards freedom and happiness.'You better not never tell nobody but God. Shug is a glamorous singer who captures Celie’s imagination, and eventually her heart.Įventually, the downtrodden and obedient Celie finds her own voice. Later the only joy in her life comes from Shug, her husband’s former lover and the woman he wanted to marry. She has never really known kindness except from her sister, from whom she is separated by her cruel and violent husband. Somehow, this restrained and matter-of-fact retelling is heartbreaking, revealing Celie’s naivety. However, Celie tells her story with acceptance, laying it out with little emotion.

It follows Celie, and African American woman growing up in rural Georgia in the early 20 th Century.Ĭelie’s early life is painful and traumatic – she is abused by her father and later marries a man who only reluctantly agrees to be her husband, preferring her younger sister. The Color Purple is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker’s beautiful story of pain and hope.

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