Author(s): Alice Walker

Literary Fiction

Sisters Celie and Nettie share the pain and struggle of growing up as African American women in early twentieh-century rural Georgia. Forced into an abusive marriage, at least Celie can offer Nettie refuge from their violent father in her new home - until Nettie catches the attention of Celie's husband and is forced to leave and forge her own journey. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years - first from Celie to God, then between the two sisters - they manage to sustain their hope in each other across time, distance and silence, in a triumph of resilience, bravery and ultimately, love.

ONE OF THE BBC '100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD'

'A lush celebration of all that it means to be a black female' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

'A story about Black women living in the intersections of racialized and gendered violence, who find liberation through community with each other. A brutal and beautiful novel' Brit Bennett

'Every single time I read this book, I walk away as a slightly better person than I was when I picked it up' Tayari Jones

'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' Jesmyn Ward

'I got the book and read it, in one day, when it came out. And then I went back, the next day, and bought every copy they had' Oprah Winfrey