The Temple of My Familiar is a visionary novel that weaves together a cast of characters, intertwining their past and present into a brilliantly intricate tapestry of tales. It tells the story of the dispossessed and displaced, of peoples whose history is ancient and whose future is yet to come.

Meet Lissie, a woman of many pasts; Arveyda, the great guitarist, and his Latin American wife who has had to flee her homeland; Suwelo, the history teacher, and his former wife Fanny, who has fallen in love with spirits. Hovering tantalizingly above their stories are Miss Celie and Shug, the beloved characters from The Color Purple.

This novel transcends time, examining contradictions such as black vs. white, man vs. woman, sexual freedom vs. sexual slavery, and past vs. present. As Alice Walker follows these astonishing characters, she weaves a new mythology from old fables and history, providing a profoundly spiritual explanation for centuries of shared African American experience.