How long does it take to read Meridian?
Meridian by Alice Walker takes about 4 hours 11 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 4 hours 11 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1976. 228 pages, about 62,700 words.
9 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 6 hours 58 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 4 hours 11 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 37 minutes |
The page count is the median across 18 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Set in the 1960s and 1970s, Meridian centers on Meridian Hill, a student at the fictitious Saxon College, who becomes active in the Civil Rights Movement. She becomes romantically involved with another activist, Truman Held. They have a turbulent on-and-off relationship, during which she becomes pregnant by him. After Meridian has an abortion, Truman becomes far more attached to her and longs for them to start a life together. Later, Truman becomes involved with a white woman, Lynne Rabinowitz, who is also active in the Civil Rights struggle, though perhaps for the wrong reasons. As time passes, Truman attempts, unsuccessfully, to achieve personal and financial success while Meridian continues to stay involved in the movement and fight for issues she believes deeply in.
Subjects: African American college students, African American women, African American women in fiction, Civil rights movements, Fiction, Southern States in fiction
