Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo: A Novel [Paperback]

Ntozake Shange (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1996

Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo is the story of three "colored girls," three sisters and their mama from Charleston, South Carolina: Sassafrass, the oldest, a poet and a weaver like her mother, gone north to college, 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,who leaves home to find new ways of moving and easing the contractions of her soul; Indigo, the youngest, still a child of Charleston—"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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Playwright and novelist Shange writes of the creative and personal lives of three artistic black sisters from South Carolina.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Miss Shange writes with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message."—Clive Barnes, The New York Times

"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

"A jubilant celebration of womanhood—as moving as the moon . . . pure magic."—Kansas City Star

"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."—Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Picador (January 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312140916
• ISBN-13: 978-0312140915
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ntozake Shange, poet, novelist, playwright, and performer, wrote the Broadway-produced and Obie Award-winning For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. She has also written numerous works of fiction, including Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo, Betsy Brown, and Liliane.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This will change your outlook on life., March 29, 1999

By 

Eliot Glenn - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo: A Novel (Paperback)

This book is not an action-packed thriller or nail-bitingly exciting/ it is not meant to be. Shange's unique way with words paints previously un-painted pictures. A work of beauty and love from beginning to end, Shange covers each girls mode of self-expression, and by the end of the book you feel a special bond with and understanding of each character in the book. At times it may seem overdone, and it may very well be sometimes (I'm still not sure), and at times it may move a little slow, but my soul would tell me to give Shange the benefit of the doubt and take the message instead of the medium (which is, as I have said, in its own right fabulous.) I would recommend this book to any patient person looking for a soul-searching endeavor that will leave you feeling more whole as a person and wanting more. Bravo Ntozake!!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Christmas Book!, December 2, 2000

By 

I. Gross Georg "imgeorg" (Edmond, Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo: A Novel (Paperback)

A gift from Mama, one from their dead Father, and one from Santa, each found through a kind of scavenger hunt by clues left for each child under the Christmas tree, and each savored by the individual Child privately, free of "rivalries, jokes, and Christmas confusions."

What a marvellous, inventive Christmas tradition. If I had family, I would initiate this idea. The Christmas chapter is my favorite in this whole book. I also enjoy the recipes scattered throughout the book! I've tried a few and they're great!

I'm not going to analyze this book and try to guess at what the author was trying to do. Seems to me only the author could do that, anyway. All I can do is review this book based on what I got out of it. Besides a new Christmas ritual and some great recipes, what I got out of it was, a beautiful story about a mother and her three daughters, each with their own unique gifts: Sassafrass the weaver, Cypress the dancer, and Indigo the voodoo priestess/midwife. Their mother, Hilda Effania, wants the best for her girls, but she knows they each have to make their own way in the world; and when at the end of the story her three grown girls are reunited in the celebration of the newest member of the family, she lets them know that no matter what, they can always come home. I think this is a beautiful message, and I'm surprised this book hasn't become a movie by now. Not that being on video would improve the story, far be it; in fact, most movies based on books are so intent on sensationalism that it ends up being nothing like the book (think Waiting to Exhale). It's just that, if done right, it could become the type of touchy-feely message film that Touchstone films or even Hallmark should have jumped on long ago.

This is my favorite book, and I don't own/enjoy a lot of fiction. I've had this book about ten years now, my book has a better cover, and I enjoy pulling it down every Christmas just to read the Christmas day story again and again.

I'm seeing some references to this book as reading for grade schoolers. I think that may be a mistake. I wouldn't recommend this book for a young (prepubescent) child; the drug scenes and the passages involving sexuality are a little intense, I think, even though today's children are a lot more worldly about such things thanks to cable!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical form, March 12, 2003

By 

TheBadKitty (North Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo (Paperback)

One of the best books I have ever read. From the first page I was drawn into this world completely and never looked back. One of those rare books that I was devastated to have end, and moped around for months afterward with nothing to read because I knew nothing would be able to equal it. Miz Shange's lyrical prose is incomparable, beautiful and devastating in it's ability to make an intimate connection with the reader. I consider it a 'Must' read.
If you ever have a chance to see Ntozake Shange read in person, which I have, don't miss the opportunity. She is as rare and wonderful as her writing.