The Color Purple

Dear God: I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl. Maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me... So begins Alice Walker's touching, complex and engrossing new novel, the story of two sisters in the harsh, segregated world of the Deep South between the wars. Celie has been raped by the man she calls her father; her two children are taken away from her; her beloved young sister Nettie has run away. She is given in marriage to Albert, to look after his children. She has no one to talk to but God. Until Shug Avery the singer, the magic woman from Albert's past, re-enters his life. Through her, Celie discovers not the pain of rivalry but the love and support of women; she rediscovers Nettie, and hope. And The Color Purple becomes a celebration of liberation, joy and redemption.--back cover