“Dear God, I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl.” This is the opening line of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Color Purple. Set in rural Georgia in the early 1900s, the novel follows the narrator from girlhood to womanhood. Over the course of 90 letters, we share Celie’s heartbreaks and sorrows, her joys and triumphs. Through her correspondence, we are introduced to characters who provide her with a sisterhood of love and healing. It is this connection between women which gained The Color Purple the rank of number 17 on the American Library Association's 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000-2010. Walker has created a community of remarkable Black women who exemplify strength and resilience. In this course we will examine the sisterhood, legacy, and controversy of The Color Purple.