An article by the author of this that I just came across and think’s worth linking here for some authorial context—in particular, I’m thinking, with reference to my earlier feeling that this book’s a bit conservative in its definition of ‘the family’:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1021293/How-mothers-fanatical-feminist-views-tore-apart-daughter-The-Color-Purple-author.html

Just FYI.