• Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

  • A Novel
  • By: Ntozake Shange
  • Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
  • Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (462 ratings)

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Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo  By  cover art

Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

By: Ntozake Shange
Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
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Publisher's summary

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.

©1982 Ntozake Shange (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc., and Buck 50 Productions, LLC

Critic reviews

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

What listeners say about Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a beautiful story, told by people that speak a beautiful dialect

This is one of my favorite books. I re-read it for nostalgic reasons. Upon buying the audible I had hoped to hear the rich voices of the black people in Charleston SC. Having lived there for 4 years. I was so disappointed in the narration. It was a southern accent. Not the rich, deep melody of Gullah (Geechee) native tongue. A tonal language that reminds you of low country boils, windswept beaches, and sweet grass baskets.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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What I Needed

I've seen this white book with the blue lady on it in my house for years in passing and never picked it up. Only at 28 ( 29 in a few days) did I pick it up when my siblings and I went to surprise redecorate mother's house for the new year. It is everything. Everything I needed right now. I also decided to get my free audio book and to have this to go along with the book was such a treat.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

Stunning prose; excellent reading. Sound quality isn't amazing, but I didn't notice after the first fifteen minutes.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Classic.

loved this book! it referenced a lot of ATR, if you know you know. but the narrator's mispronounced Oshun. other than that I'm adding to my top 10

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellence in motion ♥️♥️♥️

I closed my eyes and saw everything and everyone in there settings , clothing,motion and not to mention the food please listen 😉😉

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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excellent performance. excellent writing.

excellent writing by the author. The performer's delivery brought the book to life. I will be purchasing more of this author's works.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

if you love Zora and Toni read this book!!

loved it, brilliant writer, excellent narration!! Kept me wanting more and more! Great read for any avid reader!!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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ADORED THIS!

This was a very very different type of a book that touched me so spiritually! This is a book that I see re-visiting time and time again! The narrator was absolutely superb! I highly recommend this book!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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Narrator is awful

Narrator literally ruined this story. She did zero research on the Orisha and Gullah culture before her performance and it showed. Absolute trash. And she fully deserves to be dragged for it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

the Narrator really bought this Book to Life.

Great Story , Great Narrator. the Narrator really put me dead in the center of this book. it's filled with Spells & lessons that I recommend

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1 person found this helpful