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Color Purple Paperback - 2000

by Alice Walker


About this book

The Color Purple is an acclaimed epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. Taking place mostly in rural Georgia, this collection of letters weaves an intricate mosaic of women joined by their love for each other, the men who abuse them, and the children they care for. In this, The Color Purple focuses on black female life in the American South during the 1930s, addressing the numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture.

The novel received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award. Because of the explicit content, particularly in terms of violence, The Color Purple has been a frequent target of censors, appearing on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999.

From the publisher

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Alice Walker's iconic modern classic is now a Penguin Book. A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence. Through a series of letters spanning twenty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery and Sofia and their experience. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, Alice Walker's epic carries readers on a spirit-affirming journey towards redemption and love.

First line

I am fourteen years old.

First Edition Identification

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich first published The Color Purple in New York in 1982. First editions state “First Edition” on the copyright page along with “BCDE,” the publisher’s code.

Details

  • Title Color Purple
  • Author Alice Walker
  • Binding Paperback
  • Publisher Prentice Hall
  • Date June 2000
  • ISBN 9780205150472

About the author

Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her novel The Color Purple. Her other novels include By the Light of My Father's Smile and Possessing the Secret of Joy. She is also the author of three collections of short stories, three collections of essays, seven volumes of poetry, and several children's books. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Walker now lives in Northern California.