From the Bookshelf of Overdue Podcast…

The Color Purple

Alice Walker

Start date: June 24, 2013

Finish date: June 24, 2013

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Mar 29, 2017 The Lady Anna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lgbtq, fiction, my-best-smellers, overdue-podcast-episode, black-lives, classics, read-and-own-physical-book

Characters are so well written. I cared so much about them. Really really loved it. Sometimes I have a hard time with books written as letters, but this one was fantastic.

Trigger warning in the first few pages for sexual abuse. There's definitely very sad moments, but moments of triumph as well.

p.200: ...have you ever found God in church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the othher folks did too ...more

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Sep 15, 2018 Robin rated it really liked it

Shelves: glbtq, read-in-2018

Beautiful prose, capturing the bonds between both the families we're born into and the families we choose. ...more

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Apr 07, 2019 Marisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: women-s-studies, strong-female-character-s, historical-fiction, humans-are-scary, classics, worth-re-reading, books-to-big-screen, books-for-times-of-hardship

There are a ton of 5-star reviews that convey everything I want to say about THE COLOR PURPLE way more accurately and eloquently than I ever could.

Alice Walker has taken the words out of me. I'm truly blown away by Celie and Nettie's letters and their reflections on life. Celie has been through hell, and she's not the only one. All the women in her life have gone through terrible situations at the hands of people who are given more power. Plus, we learn that even the characters with power aren' ...more

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Jan 18, 2023 Liesl rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, series, overdue, pulitzer, adapted-for-film, epistolary, winter-reading-challenge, 2023

A valuable read that has deservedly become a classic. Through this collection of letters, Walker relays the lives of several strong, memorable female characters who I enjoyed following and learning about. All of them dealt with so much, especially various forms of violence, but gradually came into their own and discovered lives worth living. Just as informative as a history book about surviving as a Black woman during this time period with an interesting journey of sexual discovery to boot.

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Jul 18, 2021 Jillypenny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Having watched the movie several times in my youth, I knew how this would play out. It was still incredibly moving and heart-wrenching and brought tears out.

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