In search of our mothers' gardens by Alice Walker

[Giorgia Scribellito]

n Search of Our Mothers' Gardens is a book that allows Alice Walker's voice to speak, her thoughts to flow. It is one of the first books by Walker and a remarkable one. She reflects on the contemporary situation of African Americans by thinking about her life.

The garden she searches is her mother's who always cultivated one, no matter where they moved, but metaphorically she looks for the art and past of all African American women. Walker comes through the book as more than a writer: primarily as an activist and secondarily as a professor, teacher and also as a mother ( she has one daughter, author Rebecca Walker). It is a very important book for anyone who is interested in Alice Walker's voice and in learning about the past of African Americans from a person who has played a very important part in the African American community.

We hear the vibrant voice of a young woman in her early twenties at the time of writing the book. The book allows the readers to understand her political and literary journey. She nowadays is one of the most important African American writers. In one of her memoirs Alice Walker writes about teaching African American history and culture to black women in the south of the United States and the difficulty she encountered in making them believe in the important things that African Americans have done. 

I reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in African-American and particularly in African-American women's history.

[e-tasana-williams]

Hmmm...sounds like an important read. I'll be adding it to my to read list. The first book I read by Walker was The Color Purple...A-ma-zing! It is epic in a way similar to Gone With the Wind, Out of Africa, Les Miserable, Lonesome Dove, etc. While the movie adaptation was really good, it just missed some of the detail of the book (as usual). The "sequel" Possessing the Secret of Joy was less enjoyable to me...it rather dragged on, even though it did relate a real problem that African women faced (and still face) as they come of age. Thank you for the review.

[Giorgia Scribellito]

Hello, please do add it to your reading list. The book provides a wealth of information about Alice Walker' s life, the 1960s and 1970s, in particulat. It is a very interedting reflection about her life journey and a piece of history of African Americans! You can really hear Alice Walker' s voice in the book! I agree that the Colour Purple and Possessing The Secret of Joy are really great books and they address very important topics!

[e-tasana-williams]

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Giorgia Scribellito]

A pleasure !