Salamishah Tillet's forthcoming book tells the story of The Color Purple by Alice Walker: the novel, the film, and the musical adaptation. It covers the origins of the novel, Alice Walker's family members that inspired the characters, and the novel's reception in the literary world and Black culture. Tillet's book is part history of the novel and its legacy, part biography of Walker, and part memoir of Tillet's personal connection to the book. It is split into three parts, each part is named after a major character in the novel (Part 1: Celie, 2: Shug, 3: Sofia). Part 1 covers the novel, Part 2 covers the film adaptation, and Part 3 covers the musical adaptation and the novel's lasting legacy. I enjoyed learning more about Walker's familial foundations of the novel, how the film came to fruition including the search for cast members, and finally its lasting impact on women and especially sexual assault survivors. The strengths of this book is that Tillet was able to interview Alice Walker, Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Quincy Jones, and others, and not having to depend solely on archival sources. Ultimately this book is a love letter to The Color Purple, fans of the book or movie will thoroughly enjoy reading it, I sure did. 

Thanks to NetGalley, Abrams Press, and Salamishah Tillet for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on January 12, 2021.