Possessing the Secret of Joy

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Possessing the Secret of Joy is a 1992 novel by Alice Walker.

[edit] Plot Summary

It tells the story of Tashi, a minor character in Walker's earlier novel The Color Purple. She comes from an unnamed African nation where female genital mutilation is practised. She agrees to have this operation performed on her because she is a woman torn between two cultures. She wants to honor her Olinkan roots. She sees several psychiatrists because of the trauma she has suffered before finding the strength to act. The novel explores what it means to have one's gender culturally defined and emphasizes that, according to Walker, "Torture is not culture."