This unprecedented box set brings together three great novels by Alice Walker, including her masterpiece, The Color Purple , winner of the Pulitzer and the American Book Award, adapted for the second time for the cinema.
This box presents three moments from the production of Alice Walker, one of the most important writers of our time: The Color Purple , The Temple of My Kindred and The Secret of Joy .
In "The Color Purple ," set in the American South between the 1900s and 1940s, we learn the story of Celie, a poor, semi-literate Black woman. Brutalized since childhood, the young woman was raped by her stepfather and forced to marry Albert, a violent widower and father of four who viewed his wife as a servant and made physical and mental suffering his daily routine. The novel, written in the form of letters, won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award and inspired the cinematic masterpiece of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg and the acclaimed Broadway musical, adapted for the screen in 2023.
The Temple of My Kindred , defined by the author herself as "a novel of the last 500,000 years," interweaves past and present in a complex tapestry of stories, exploring, with touches of magical realism, the themes of colonialism, oppression, and spiritual recovery. In this story, we meet Lissie, a woman of many lives; Zedé, a Latin American teacher convicted of supporting her country's revolution, but who flees to San Francisco after giving birth to her daughter, Carlotta; Arveyda, the great musician with whom Carlotta shares a strong connection, both immigrants; Suwelo, a historian, and his ex-wife, Fanny, who falls in love with spirits and seeks her own liberation. Orbiting these characters are Fanny's grandmothers: Celie and Shug, the beloved characters from The Color Purple .
In The Secret of Joy , Alice Walker further demonstrates the power of fiction to fascinate and reveal to us all a little of the mystery of resistance and happiness in the face of oppression and anguish. In the work, the desire to honor her traditions leads Tashi—who initially appears in The Color Purple , representing the fictional African Olinka people—to seek out genital mutilation. This courageous choice, however, reveals the beginning of a painful physical and psychological process that will involve all those touched by her journey. The tortuous paths of Tashi's mind will lead the characters and their readers through a representative battle to the origin myth of women's oppression.
“I picked up the book [ The Color Purple ] and read it in one day when it came out. And then the next day I went back and bought every copy they had.” – Oprah Winfrey
“The Color Purple is a stunning celebration of all that it means to be a Black woman […]. I love that The Color Purple doesn’t try to soften its blows and yet is still encouraging enough to maintain a wonderfully affirming faith in possibility, forgiveness, kindness, and hope.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“With writing committed to the Black feminist project, The Color Purple shows why it is a classic.” – Carla Akotirene
“ The Secret of Joy […] focuses on one of the most debated and shocking issues in feminism, and places this book among Alice Walker’s most powerful works.” – The New York Times
“[ The Temple of My Kindred is] brilliant […]. Part romance, part visionary history, part revolutionary treatise, this book will delight, shock […] and inspire Alice Walker fans.” — USA Today
“One of the best American writers working today.” – Washington Post
“Alice Walker moves us by emphasizing the humanity we share with her characters.” – Chicago Daily News
