THE ICONIC CLASSIC, WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE 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 '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 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. Abused repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', Celie has two children taken away from her 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. And gradually Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves. '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 'One of the most haunting books you could ever wish to read' Lenny Henry 'Superb' Rita Mae Brown 'One of the greatest books of all time' Benjamin Zephaniah 'A unique blend of serenity and immediacy that makes your senses ache' Helen Dunmore 'A genuinely mind-expanding book' Patrick Ness 'Indelibly affecting... Alice Walker is a lavishly gifted writer' New York Times 'One of the great books of our time' Essence Magazine 'A work to stand beside literature of any time and place' San Francisco Chronicle