Ntozake Shange's beloved Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina.
"A jubilant celebration of womanhood--as moving as the moon . . . pure magic." --Kansas City Star
Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college, she is now living with other artists in Los Angeles and trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories and dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to find new ways of moving in the world. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston-"too much of the south in her"-who lives in poetry and has the supreme gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world. Shange's rich and wondrous story of womanhood, art, and passionately-lived lives is written "with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message" (The New York Times).
"Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo by Ntozake Shange inspired me to want to write novels because she approached it with a poet's flare while telling this weaving story of art and black girlhood that made me feel like I could write fiction outside of the boundaries of "canonical" literature."
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One day after #NationalBlackPoetryDay we celebrated the birthday of Black feminist poet & playwright, Ntozake Shange. She's remembered for classics like “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf” (1976) & “Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo” (1982). https://t.co/Tu0fmUDf0f
"Shange's wit, lyricism and fierceness are marvelous." --The New York Times
"A jubilant celebration of womanhood as moving as the moon...pure magic." --Kansas City Star
"A marvel... Languages--colloquial, established, lyric play together like the most lush chamber music, the coolest jazz, the brassiest marches, the hippest jug band... It leaves us filled with joy and yearning for more." --Philadelphia Inquirer
"Possessed of poetry, motion, and light... Shange's tale is poignant, surprising, and deep as she looks as the different worlds of women and their special places therein." --Publishers Weekly