Every year at the start of summer I take a peek at what the high schools are recommending for summer reading. Most of the time I put several of these titles on the top of my “to be read” (TBR) list and promptly bypass them when I am distracted by the bright, shiny, new books being published. As you’ve probably figured out, all those new books shoot their way to the top of the TBR list knocking the classics out of the running. But this past year I’ve made a concerted effort to read those classics and I’m glad I did because I finally “found” The Color Purple.
Celie and Nettie are sisters born and raised in the segregated South in the early 20th century. Celie’s life has been an endless cycle of hardship and loss. Separated from her sister and thinking she is dead, Celie spends her life being beaten down and worked to the bone by an abusive husband and raising his ungrateful children. Unbeknown to Celie, Nettie has made her way to Africa with a missionary family and eventually becomes a missionary herself.
Although Nettie is separated from Celie by an ocean and time, she never gives up hope that she will once again see her sister. Each woman chronicles her life in letters describing the people, the world around them, and their pain at their separation. The Color Purple opens with Celie writing letters to God and then both sisters writing letters to the other that go unanswered. Each missive chronicles a day or more of their lives and spans several decades. This format provides brief yet startling vignettes in these women’s lives and reveals significant events from the pain of rape and abuse to the first moments of new and healing love. The language is spare, direct, and meaningful. Readers who enjoy novels with excellent character development, lyrical writing, and complex moral and social questions will find this novel an excellent selection.
Check the WRL catalog for The Color Purple
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