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Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange
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Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

A Novel

$15.26

Retail price: $16.95

Discount: 9%

This title is not eligible for purchase with membership credits. Why?

Narrator Allyson Johnson

This audiobook uses AI narration.

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Length 7 hours 2 minutes
Language English
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Ntozake Shange’s most beloved novel, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo, is the story of three “colored girls,” three sisters and their mama from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother, gone north to college and living with other artists in Los Angeles, trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories, and her dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to find new ways of moving and easing the contractions of her soul. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston—with “too much of the South in her”—who lives in poetry, can talk to her dolls, and has a great gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world.

This story of three sisters making their way in an often hostile world is a touching celebration of womanhood.

Ntozake Shange, fearless in her quest to affirm the realities of women of color, demonstrates that her name reflects her approach to both her art and her life. In the Zulu language of Xhosa, ntozake means “she who comes with her own things,” and shange means “she who walks like a lion.” She has written numerous novels, works of poetry, essays and screenplays, a plethora of critically acclaimed plays, as well as children’s books. She is the recipient of the 2016 Langston Hughes Medal.

Allyson Johnson began her entertainment career as an Emmy Award-winning child news anchor. A graduate of Brown University, she is a working actress, singer, and audiobook narrator. She currently resides in the New York City metropolitan area.

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Reviews

“Miss Shange writes with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message.”

“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.”

“A jubilant celebration of womanhood—as moving as the moon…pure magic.”

“Possessed of poetry, motion, and light…Shange’s tale is poignant, surprising, and deep as she looks at the different worlds of women and their special places therein.”

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Celebrate indie bookstores with our limited-time sale! Shop the sale