Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

Ntozake Shange

'Shange's wit, lyricism and fierceness are marvellous' New York Times

Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo are sisters. They are growing up, and their dreams are far from their Mama's house in Charleston.

Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college, she is living with other artists in Los Angeles, trying to summon a life out of her work.

Cypress, a dancer, is leaving home to find new ways of moving in the world.

Meanwhile Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of the South, living in poetry with a supreme gift for seeing the world's magic.

A trailblazing work by a radical literary voice, Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo is an expansive collage of prose, poetry, recipes, letters, spells and dreams, which come together to form an unforgettable portrait of Black womanhood, creativity and passionately-lived lives.

A W&N Essential