Book Review: The colour purple - A. Walker

"I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is. I have a right to be this way...I can't apologize for that, nor can I change it, nor do I want to... We will never have to be other than who we are in order to be successful...We realize that we are as ourselves unlimited and our experiences valid. It is for the rest of the world to recognize this, if they choose.” 

I don't know why I have not read this novel before! I heard about it of course but I just managed to pick it up the other week when I spotted it at my local library.
Such a great novel! Set in the 30s in Southern US, it's a great and very nude and crude picture of the African American society of that time.
Celie is the main character and, through her letters to God first and then to her sister Nettie, we follow her life from her teenagers years until her sixties.
The letters she writes, in a sort of diary, are quite candid in how she describes the physical, sexual and psychological violence she is subjected to by her stepfather and then her husband.
But Celie is strong and keeps going until she finds love and support in the unexpected figure of Shug Avery, a blues singer and Celie's husband lover, who encourages Celie to reach her freedom and independence.
It is a great story of hope and strength of character. It is also a shocking overview of how the black community was still treated, and women in particular, not even a hundred years ago.
A must read, an ever green classic.

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.” 

Overall rating:  9     Plot: 9     Writing style: 7,5      Cover:  8

Title: The color purple

Author: Alice Walker
Publisher: W&N
Pages: 288
Publication year: 1982

The Plot:

Set in the deep American South between the wars, THE COLOR PURPLE is the classic tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.

The Author:
Alice Walker won the Pulitzer prize and the American Book Award for The Color Purple. She is the author of many bestselling novels, essays and collections of poetry including Meridian, By the Light of My Father's Smile and The Third Life of Grange Copeland.
She lives and teaches in San Francisco