The Color Purple
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. The novel has been the frequent target of censors and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000–2009 at number seventeenth because of the sometimes explicit content, particularly in terms of violence. In 2003, the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novels."
Where The Color Purple keeps showing up
Six of our editors' lists feature this novel.
Books in conversation with The Color Purple
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about The Color Purple
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
From age fourteen, Celie writes letters to God about the violent stepfather, the cruel husband, and the sister sent away to Africa. Then she meets her husband's blues singer girlfriend, Shug Avery, and the letters change.
Yes. The Color Purple won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Alice Walker was the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer for Fiction.
Yes. Steven Spielberg directed a 1985 film adaptation starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Danny Glover. A 2023 musical film adaptation, based on the Broadway show, was also released.
Yes. The Color Purple has been one of the most frequently banned and challenged books in American schools, primarily for sexual content and depictions of abuse. It remains widely taught.
The Color Purple was written by Alice Walker, published in 1982 by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.
The Color Purple is 262 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Color Purple takes most readers 4 to 6 hours to finish.
The Color Purple is a standalone novel by Alice Walker, not part of a series.
The Color Purple is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
