Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo

This book is slow, lyrical and takes its time about everything. It is the story of three sisters growing up and learning what it means to be black and a woman. Some struggle against the oppression of men, others try to get back to their roots. These three women explore through their artistic careers and various love affairs who they really are and what they want to become. This book is not for everyone, but it has its moments of power, beauty, and stunning clarity. It's a voice worth hearing.

I feel like this book was beautiful. I also think I am too centered in my own subject position as a white woman a generation younger than the characters to "get" all the nuances. Like at least one other commenter, I found the introduction with Indigo the easiest and most enjoyable to read, but I'm also used to that sort of narrative. Shange is doing experimental things with her prose and poetry and centering Black women's experience, which is more alien for me as a reader. This is a book I probably would need more help with to truly "get", so I don't know how to review it well.

"So Cypress learned to see other people as themselves, and not as threats to her person." This line, and this novel, changed the way I conceptualize relationships. I'm still learning.

This was very different. Magical realism? Fantasy elements to the story for sure. I thoroughly enjoyed this very different look at the lives of these women.

First edition

dust jacket