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Cellie gives birth to two children at the age of fourteen
Cellies father Alphonso rapes and abuses Cellie. She gives birth to a girl, which is then stolen by her father and killed in the woods. The second time Cellie is impregnanted by her father, she gives birth to a boy. Alphonso also takes this child away from Cellie. Cellie thinkss both her children are dead. -
Mr. asks for Nettie's hand in marriage
Nettie is Cellie's younger sister. Alphonso refuses Mr. offer, but says he can marry Cellie. After a lot of thought, Mr. decides to marry Cellie. -
Nettie comes and stays with Cellie and Mr. to get away from their fathers abuse
Mr. still desires Nettie. Angrey that Nettie does not feel the same way, he kicks Nettie out of his house when she has no where else to go. In his last attempt to be with Nettie, he follows her when she leaves. When Nettie fights him off, in spite Mr. assures her she will never see her sister again. -
Mr. son, Harpo, gets married
Harpo inpregnants Sofia and they are soon married. Harpo wishes Sofia would obey him like Cellie obeys Mr. . Harpo desperately tries to gain weight so he can beat Sofia. Every time Harpo tires, Sofia beats him too. -
Shug becomes ill
Shug and Mr. had relationships before he married Cellie. Mr. takes Shug into her home. Cellie is very excited because she has always looked up to her. Shug is first rude to Cellie, but soon learns to respect her as Cellie takes care of her. -
Sofia leaves Harpo
Sofia becomes tired of Harpo trying to control her. She leaves for her sisters house, taking her children with her. Once Sofia is gone, Harpo opens a juke joint. This place becomes more and more popular when Shug starts to perform there. -
Cellie tells Shug about her sister
Cellie tells Shug how she assumes her sister, Cellie, is dead. Nettie said she would write Cellie, but Cellie never got a single letter. Shug says that Mr. has a ton of letters he keeps hidden in the trunk of his car. Shug and Cellie get the letters and put them in order. Shug and Cellie read the letters together. Now, instead of writting to God, Cellie writes to her sister Nettie. -
Cellie finally stands up for herself
Cellie curses out Mr. at the dinner table, and her and Shug announce they are moving to Tennessee. While in Tennessee, Cellie keeps herself busy by sewing pants while Shug was performing. Her pants became extremely susscessful. She is able to open her own store and hire Sofia. Cellie is no longer dependent on anyone. -
Nettie has traveled to Africa
The letters from Nettie tell how she has become a missionary and traveled to Africa with a couple, Samuel and Corrine, and their adopted children. Corrine sees the her children resemble Nettie and begins to question her. Nettie seeks the truth from Samuel about where the children came from. The story reveals that Alphonso gave him those children, and that he was not Cellie's and Nettie's real father. Nettie was with Cellie's children and they were alive and well! -
Nettie comes home
Cellie gets to see her sister and her two children. Her and Mr. enjoy eachothers company and Cellie gets the respect she deserves from him. She finally made it through her struggle and is happy.