The Color Purple Book Review: A Challenging Read That Still Resonates

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BOOK SUMMARY & STATS

SUMMARY

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple book is a profoundly moving novel told through a series of letters written primarily by Celie, a poor Black woman living in the rural American South in the early 1900s. From the very first page, we’re drawn into Celie’s world—a world marked by hardship, silence, and pain, but also by resilience, love, and transformation.

Celie’s early life is shaped by trauma and abuse, yet as the years pass, her voice grows stronger. The novel traces her journey from oppression to empowerment. She is helped along the way by a remarkable cast of women—including the bold and defiant Shug Avery and Celie’s strong-willed sister Nettie whose letters bring hope from across the ocean.

At its heart, The Color Purple is a story of survival, sisterhood, and self-discovery. Walker’s prose is intimate, poetic, and deeply human. This book challenged me, stayed with me, and offered so much to discuss with my book club—from the power of voice and personal growth to the ways women support and uplift one another through the darkest of times.

THE COLOR PURPLE BOOK STATS

Title	The Color Purple
Author	Alice Walker
Book Club(s)	Our Shared Shelf #2 in February 2016
Publication Date/Year	1976
Page Count	304
Genre(s)	Fiction, Historical Fiction, Feminism, Classics, LGBT
Setting	Georgia (United States)
Goodreads Rating	4.27
Audience	Adutl
Series	No
Translator	N/A
Awards	2 – Pultizer Prize and National Book Award

BOOK RATING & REVIEW

THE COLOR PURPLE BOOK RATING

BCR Rating	2.5
Availability	4
Format	4
Length	4
Diversity	5
Bechdel Test	Pass
Page Turner	No

THE COLOR PURPLE BOOK REVIEW

Here’s my unpopular opinion. I struggled with The Color Purple and debated between giving it 2 and 3 stars. Ultimately, I landed at 2.5.

I read this novel back in school, and I remember having a really hard time with it. The subject matter—abuse, trauma, and systemic racism—is undeniably important, but at the time, it felt overwhelmingly heavy. That early experience left a negative impression that has lingered ever since.

Part of the challenge for me may have been the format. The book is told through letters, mostly written by the main character, Celie, in a phonetic dialect that reflects her limited education and the Southern setting. While I appreciate what Alice Walker was doing stylistically, my younger self struggled to follow it. The literary dialect, combined with the emotionally weighty material, can make for an exhausting read. It’s one of those books that feels longer than it is.

I do think this might be one of those novels that deserves a second chance later in life. Being older now, I may be more emotionally equipped to process what it’s saying and how it’s presented. There’s no denying the cultural and literary significance of The Color Purple, but for me, it wasn’t an easy or enjoyable reading experience.

BOOK CLUB RESOURCES

BCR RECOMMENDATION

If your book club enjoys emotionally intense, character-driven novels and is ready to tackle a challenging story, then yes—The Color Purple is absolutely a classic worth reading. It offers a lot to discuss including resilience, sisterhood, identity, and the long shadow of generational trauma.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend it for most book clubs without some preparation. The subject matter is heavy, and the letter-writing format in literary dialect can be tough to follow—especially for readers unfamiliar with it. If your group does choose to read it, I strongly suggest giving yourselves more than a month to get through it and consider following it with something lighter to help balance the emotional weight.

This is a powerful book, but it’s not an easy one. Give your club the heads-up, the time, and the space to process it.

BOOK DISCUSSION

When it comes to discussing The Color Purple, you won’t be short on material. This is one of those books that has inspired a wealth of resources—discussion guides, literary analyses, and think pieces that can help shape and deepen your group’s conversation. If your club prefers a more structured format, there are plenty of guides out there to choose from.

You might also consider incorporating one (or both!) of the film adaptations into your meet-up. Watching the 1985 Spielberg version or the more recent musical adaptation can spark great conversation around how the story was translated from page to screen, what was changed or emphasized, and how the characters come to life in a visual medium.

For a more casual, free-flowing discussion, don’t forget about simple prompts—like the ones in our BCR General Book Discussion Guide. A few thoughtful questions can go a long way with a book that is so layered and emotional.

Whether your group is ready to dig deep or just talk through initial impressions, The Color Purple offers so much to explore such as character development, voice, resilience, trauma, forgiveness, and the power of chosen family.