Gathering Blossoms Under Fire

The Journals of Alice Walker

By: Alice Walker, Valerie Boyd - editor

Narrated by: Aunjanue Ellis, Alice Walker, Janina Edwards

Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

From National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize­–winning author Alice Walker and edited by critic and writer Valerie Boyd, comes an unprecedented compilation of Walker’s fifty years of journals drawing an intimate portrait of her development over five decades as an artist, human rights and women’s activist, and intellectual.

For the first time, the edited journals of Alice Walker are gathered together to reflect the complex, passionate, talented, and acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner of The Color Purple. She intimately explores her thoughts and feeling as a woman, a writer, an African American, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a lover, a sister, a friend, a citizen of the world.

In an unvarnished and singular voice, she explores an astonishing array of events: marching in Mississippi with other foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.; her marriage to a Jewish lawyer, defying laws that barred interracial marriage in the 1960s South; an early miscarriage; writing her first novel; the trials and triumphs of the Women’s Movement; erotic encounters and enduring relationships; the ancestral visits that led her to write The Color Purple; winning the Pulizter Prize; being admired and maligned, sometimes in equal measure, for her work and her activism; and burying her mother. A powerful blend of Walker’s personal life with political events, this “revelation, a road map, and a gift to us all” (Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage) offers rare insight into a literary legend.

©1973 and renewed 2001 Alice Walker. All rights reserved. (P)2022 by Valerie Boyd

I enjoyed this tremendously.

What an intimate window into a life. I’ve never experienced this in a book. To hear Alice Walker’s evolution through her own thoughts and words— wonderful! And the narration is excellent.

Priceless

I loved how her journals took me on a deep reflective journey through her life. With each story I softened, became more compassionate and more willing to look at myself with love and respect and more willing to see the importance of writing. Thank you Ms. Walker. I feel blessed.

Lovely life review

I literally want to hear it all again. Mrs.Walker has definitely lived and loved.

Life Altering

Wonderful Narration, at times I just got lost in the rhythm of the words. Amazing insight into a prolific mind, helped me name and reorganize some of my own thinking during this stage of life.

what an interesting woman

I enjoyed her books now I want to go back and read them again. this collection of her diaries is as entertaining as it is informative. the narration is perfect. I couldn't stop listening.

educational, raw and deliberate

Loved it for sure. Such detailed accounts of feelings, sights and deep thinking. This magnificent piece made me want to read and know Alice Walker even more.

mesmerizing!!!

Loved this!! I was in a dream like State during the whole book. I feel blessed and privileged to be in on the inner workings of Alice Walker's mind and soul.

So good! Might listen again!

This was by far, my favorite read in quite some time. I've never seen such transparency, and vulnerability over time, made possible by a journal. It is rare to to see a public figure with great success and their experiences-- in real time-- before, during, and after they have come to prominence. Walker presents a great model for freedom on your own terms, alongside its benefits and costs. Further, Aunjanue Ellis' reading is impeccable in tone and cadence. I was sad for this one to end, which says a lot--as it's already an already decadent 22 hours plus. Side note: you can speed this read up a bit without compromising the audio quality.

Candid and beautifully written notes on her life

Candid descriptions of herself and her relationships. Reveals her insights into her role in her relationships. Honest self-reporting of her life and the events that shaped her choices and storytelling. Helpful sharing of her spiritual inquiries, her gratitude for life and her willingness to examine her beliefs. All beautifully written. And the reader did a wonderful job of bringing out the feelings in the words.

A must-read for any creative artist!!

Such a bold and courageous look into the life of a curious and deeply feeling person.