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Writer's pictureAmy Shannon

Alice Walker- The Color Purple

Genre: Black & African American Historical Fiction/LGBTQ


5 Stars


Brilliant


What a brilliant story in The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It is remarkable as the first time i read it. It's a diary of Celie, who writes to God. It's the 20's and 30's (in the previous century) and the story tells of the horror of men having sex with their daughters. The majority of the characters are African-American, and I believe that should be mentioned, because the story revolves around their culture, and the treatment of each other, and how they were also treated by white people. The daughters of these men are getting pregnant (referred to being "big"), and then the babies are sold. Sometimes the girls don't know if their child is alive or dead. The daughters, the ones that are the strong silent type and "know their place" are being given to other men (yes, older men) as wives. The wives are beaten into submission so they know the rules and their place. However, Celie is a strong character, but she even keeps her smile to herself, until she falls pretty much in love with her husbands "mistress" Shug. Celie is very close to her sister, Nettie, but Celie's husband is mad when Nettie won't let him have sex with her, so he breaks up the two and sends Nettie away. Nettie, however, taught Celie how to read. Both the book and the movie are tremendously powerful. I read the book and then rewatched the movie. I hope to read more books by this author. The Color Purple is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. This book is on a list of banned books.





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