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Cover of The Color Purple

The Color Purple

Historical Fiction

Published: Print · 1982 | Print · 2022 | Audiobook · 2019 | eBook · 2011

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Read the original inspiration for the new, boldly reimagined film from producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Fantasia Barrino. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, now in a beautiful Penguin Vitae edition with a foreword by Kiese Laymon A Penguin Classic Hardcover Celebrating its fortieth anniversary, The Color Purple writes a message of healing, forgiveness, self-discovery, and sisterhood to a new generation of readers. An inspiration to authors who continue to give voice to the multidimensionality of Black women’s stories, including Tayari Jones, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Jesmyn Ward, and more, The Color Purple remains an essential read in conversation with storytellers today. 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…

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other across time, distance, and silence. Through a series of letters spanning nearly thirty years, first from Celie to God, then from the sisters to each other, the novel draws readers into a rich and memorable portrayal of Black women—their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, The Color Purple breaks the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, and carries readers on an epic and spirit-affirming journey toward transformation, redemption, and love.

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Film
The Color Purple
Released · 1985 · Warner Bros. · Source ↗
Podcast Episode
The Color Purple and Generational Trauma
Why We Theater · Listen ↗
Listen on Apple Podcasts
FormatPublisherYearLanguageTerritory
PrintHoughton Mifflin Harcourt1982English—
PrintPenguin2022-01-25English—
AudiobookAudible Studios on Brilliance Audio2019English—
eBookOpen Road Media2011English—

Sources

1
Penguin Random House
Audience Information
2
Amblin
Film Adaptation
3
Why We Theater
The Color Purple and Generational Trauma