> Skip to content
Possessing The Secret Of Joy
  • Published: 4 May 1993
  • ISBN: 9780099224112
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $32.99

Possessing The Secret Of Joy



This is the compelling story of Tashi, an extraordinary woman torn between African and American cultural identities, from the author of The Color Purple.

When Alice Walker finished writing The Color Purple she realised that she needed to tell the story of Tashi, a minor character, who had "left Africa but had taken her wound with her to America". This is Tashi's story, told in her words and the voices of the people who loved her. This extraordinarily courageous and compelling novel explores the tragic consequences of Tashi's decision to go through the female initiation ceremony.

  • Published: 4 May 1993
  • ISBN: 9780099224112
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $32.99

About the author

Alice Walker

Alice Walker is the author of seven novels including The Color Purple, which won the Pultizer Prize, The Temple of My Familiar, Meridian, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Now is the Time to Open Your Heart; three collections of short stories, In Love & Trouble, You Can't Keep A Good Woman Down, The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart; and eight volumes of poetry including, Once, Revolutionary Petunias, Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning, Horses Makes A Landscape Look More Beautiful, and Her Blue Body Everything We Know. She lives in Northern California.

Also by Alice Walker

See all

Praise for Possessing The Secret Of Joy

Like The Color Purple, this novel packs an enormous emotional punch... A direct challenge to the times we live in

Guardian

A true confrontation with the hearts of darkness, this is masterful, honourable, and unforgettable storytelling

Cosmopolitan

Walker's delicate narrative gifts have never been better displayed, her depiction of the unbearable never so unflinchingly believable

Daily Telegraph