In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens - by Alice Walker (Paperback)

About the Book

"Originally published forty years ago, Alice Walker's first collection of nonfiction is a dazzling compendium that remains both timely and relevant. In these thirty-six essays, Walker contemplates her own work and that of other writers, considers the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the anti-nuclear movement of the 1980s, and writes vividly and courageously about a scarring childhood injury. Throughout, Walker explores the theories and practices of feminism, incorporating what she calls the 'womanist' tradition of Black women -- insights that are vital to understanding our lives and society today."--

Book Synopsis

In this groundbreaking classic essay collection, Alice Walker speaks out as a Black woman, writer, mother, and feminist on topics ranging from the personal to the political.

This edition includes a new Letter to the Reader by Alice Walker.

Originally published forty years ago, Alice Walker's first collection of nonfiction is a dazzling compendium that remains both timely and relevant. In these thirty-six essays, Walker contemplates her own work and that of other writers, considers the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the anti-nuclear movement of the 1980s, and writes vividly and courageously about a scarring childhood injury. Throughout, Walker explores the theories and practices of feminism, incorporating what she calls the "womanist" tradition of black women--insights that are vital to understanding our lives and society today.

"When I graduated from college, my father gave me Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens. It was a beaten-up paperback in 1999, and it's even more battered now." --Jesmyn Ward

Review Quotes

"One of the healthiest collections of essays I have come across in a long time . . . What [Walker] says about the black woman she says from the depths of oppression. What is said from the depths of oppression illuminates all other oppressions." -- New Statesman

"Reflects not only the ideas but a life that has . . . breathed color, sound, and soul into fiction and poetry--and into our lives as well." -- San Francisco Chronicle