The Color Purple

Publisher’s description:

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Alice Walker’s controversial novel about a resilient and courageous woman has become a cultural phenomenon

Celie has grown up in rural Georgia, navigating a childhood of ceaseless abuse. Poor and despised by the society around her, she’s also badly treated by her family. Raped and abused by her father, she strives to protect her sister, Nettie, from a similar fate. Nettie escapes to a new life as a missionary in Africa, and their father sells Celie as a child bride to an older suitor. Now without her best friend and confidant, she is sentenced to a life alone with a harsh and abusive husband.

Celie begins writing letters directly to God in an attempt to transcend a life that often seems too much to bear. Her letters span twenty years and 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 Sophia, her stepson’s wife, who challenges her to fight for independence. And though her husband hides the many letters from her sister, Nettie’s unwavering support will prove to be the most breathtaking of all.

Lauded as a literary masterpiece, this is the groundbreaking novel that placed Walker “in the company of Faulkner” (The Nation), and inspired an Academy Award–nominated film starring Oprah Winfrey and directed by Steven Spielberg, and a Tony-nominated Broadway musical.