# Event Details - **Event Name**: Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker - **Event Start and End Date**: Mon, 16 Feb, 2026 at 02:00 pm – Mon, 16 Feb, 2026 at 03:00 pm - **Event Description**: Led by Georgia Court, this book club reads what lasts, not just the latest. This month, we read a cultural touchstone of modern literature.About this EventThe Best of the Backlist Book Club is led by Georgia Court, meant for reading what lasts, not just what's latest. February's selection is The Color Purple by Alice Walker - a landmark novel of endurance, sisterhood, and transformation. Told through Celie's letters to God and to her sister Nettie, the story traces a Black woman's journey from oppression to self-realization in the early twentieth-century South. Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, The Color Purple remains a deeply moving testament to the power of love, language, and survival. We will meet in person at our store location at The Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $18, which includes a copy of The Color Purple to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting.ABOUT THE BOOK:Celebrating its fortieth anniversary, The Color Purple writes a message of healing, forgiveness, self-discovery, and sisterhood to a new generation of readers. An inspiration to authors who continue to give voice to the multidimensionality of Black women’s stories, including Tayari Jones, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Jesmyn Ward, and more, The Color Purple remains an essential read in conversation with storytellers today.A powerful cultural touchstone of modern American literature, The Color Purple depicts the lives of African American women in early-twentieth-century rural Georgia. Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence. Through a series of letters spanning nearly thirty years, first from Celie to God, then from the sisters to each other, the novel draws readers into a rich and memorable portrayal of Black women—their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery.Deeply compassionate and beautifully imagined, The Color Purple breaks the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, and carries readers on an epic and spirit-affirming journey toward transformation, redemption, and love.PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:“Reading The Color Purple was the first time I had seen Southern, Black women’s literature as world literature. In writing us into the world—bravely, unapologetically, and honestly—Alice Walker has given us a gift we will never be able to repay.”—Tayari Jones“The Color Purple was what church should have been, what honest familial reckoning could have been, and it is still the only art object in the world by which all three generations of Black artists in my family judge American art.”—Kiese Laymon“A novel of permanent importance.”—Peter S. Prescott, Newsweek“Indelibly affecting … Alice Walker is a lavishly gifted writer.”—The New York Times Book Review“A story of revelation . . . One of the great books of our time.”—Essence Magazine“A work to stand beside literature of any time and place.”—San Francisco Chronicle“Places Walker in the company of Faulkner.”—The Nation“Remarkable expressiveness, color, and poignancy . . . not only a memorable and infinitely touching character but a whole submerged world is vividly called into being.”—The New York Review of Books“Richly evocative . . . a vibrant fugue of devotion and search for love.”—Los Angeles Herald Examiner“A national treasure . . . A rare and lovely book.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer“A saga filled with joy and pain, humor and bitterness, and an array of characters who live, breathe, and illuminate the world.”—Publishers Weekly“My go-to comfort novel is The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. Even though it touches on difficult subject matter like child abuse and forced marriage, this story believes that human kindness, courage and love can defeat any challenge. Its big, beautiful happy ending is heartfelt and hard-won. Every single time I read this book, I walk away as a slightly better person than I was when I picked it up.”—Tayari Jones, The New York Times“The miracle of the National Book Awards choices in 1983, which included Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place and Walker’s The Color Purple, meant that books that sounded in me in new and more complete ways were held up as models of great literature. It meant that Walker’s and Naylor’s works could garner much wider publicity and acclaim, and more easily find their way to small, rural libraries around the country. (…)While Naylor provided witness and reason for my people, Walker provided witness and reason for my place.”—Jesmyn Ward, The Washington PostABOUT THE AUTHOR:Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her novel The Color Purple. Her other novels include By the Light of My Father’s Smile and Possessing the Secret of Joy. She is also the author of three collections of short stories, three collections of essays, seven volumes of poetry, and several children’s books. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Walker now lives in Northern California. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/sarasota/best-of-the-backlist-book-club-the-color-purple-by-alice-walker/100001839054394199 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, contests, meetups - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 19.26, max: 19.26, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Sarasota - **state**: FL - **country**: United States - **location**: Bookstore1Sarasota - **lat**: 27.3360054 - **long**: -82.54159059999999 - **full address**: Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, United States ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events7/banners/04ea5fac77cc4d1fdb309af3c4a38f9bbe2c7dafb4ba3a605ea0a9d190e1858a-rimg-w1200-h600-dcded5bf-gmir.jpg?v=1760964589 ## FAQs - **Q**: When and where is Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker being held? - **A:** Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker takes place on Mon, 16 Feb, 2026 at 02:00 pm to Mon, 16 Feb, 2026 at 03:00 pm at Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, United States. - **Q**: How much do tickets cost for Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker? - **A:** Tickets for Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker are priced at USD 19 per person. Here's a full breakdown of available ticket types:Ticket TypePriceAvailabilityThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerUSD 19 + USD 1 taxAvailable - **Q**: Who is organizing Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker? - **A:** Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker is organized by Bookstore1Sarasota. - **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me? - **A:** Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker is ideal for art lovers, collectors, creatives, and anyone inspired by visual arts, installations, and exhibitions. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Sarasota, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Best of the Backlist Book Club: "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events7/banners/04ea5fac77cc4d1fdb309af3c4a38f9bbe2c7dafb4ba3a605ea0a9d190e1858a-rimg-w1200-h600-dcded5bf-gmir.jpg?v=1760964589", "startDate": "2026-02-16", "endDate": "2026-02-16", "url": "https://allevents.in/sarasota/best-of-the-backlist-book-club-the-color-purple-by-alice-walker/100001839054394199", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Bookstore1Sarasota", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "117 S. 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