Celie has been raped by the man she believed to be her father, robbed of her two children, and married off to a man she hates. Her sister, Nettie, escapes the same fate and is befriended by missionaries who have unwittingly adopted Celie's children. Separated for thirty years, the sisters live in ignorance of each other's circumstances. Nettie's letters do not reach Celie, and so great is Celie's sense of shame that she can write only to God. But life for Celie begins to change for the better when her husband's lover, a remarkable woman named Shug Avery, comes to live with them.

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