The Color Purple - Alice Walker

A lot of people read this canonical text either during school or at A-Level, but it's one of those that I just never got round to reading. I saw it recently and thought it was about time I saw what all the fuss was about, and I was not disappointed. 

Alice Walker's The Color Purple was first published in 1982 and is set in the deep American South between wars, following the protagonist Celie. The novel is written in an epistolary format, documenting both Celie's letters addressed 'Dear God' (very much journal entries) and her communication with her estranged sister Nettie later in the novel. Celie is born into a poverty-stricken family and is abused as a child by the man who she believes to be her father, bearing him numerous children. She is married off at a young age to an equally abusive man, living the life of a downtrodden and passive wife, having had her children taken away from her. She loses touch with her close sister, Nettie, for a great deal of the book. 

She is introduced to a glamorous and mysterious woman, Shug Avery, whom she idolises and admires. Considering the fact that Avery is the mistress of her husband, the two strike up an unlikely friendship which develops into more. Shug and Celie are worlds apart - Celie is under the thumb of her husband and keeps herself private and guarded, whereas Shug is a vibrant, gutsy woman who does not follow the instruction of any man. Shug initially takes Celie under her wing as a mentor and friend, concerned about the way she is treated by her husband - but the pair realise that there is a much deeper connection to be found there. It makes brilliant reading to see Celie emerging from her shell and gaining her own autonomy and voice as the novel goes on, finally standing up for herself after years of tolerating abuse.

Walker's writing style is simplistic yet her description is almost lyrical. There are a great many wonderful quotes to be extracted from this novel. The dialogue is set out with no indicative punctuation, so the flow of the text is mesmerising and entrapping, taking on a momentum and rhythm of its very own. The character portrayal is both caricature-like and humorous as well as strikingly real; a difficult balance to achieve. I both laughed and cried at this book, which made for a great dynamic when reading - not knowing what would come next really set this apart from other novels of related themes, which can often follow similar narrative structures.

If you haven't yet read The Color Purple, it is an important and thought-provoking book, which is rightly dubbed as a classic.