Where to Start with Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
‘One of the greatest writers of our time’ TONI MORRISON
A novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. An author of four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937; Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939; and Seraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935, and Tell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); and over fifty short stories, essays and plays. She attended Howard University, Barnard College and Columbia University, and was a graduate of Barnard College in 1927. She also grew up in Alabama.
‘Zora Neale Hurston was a knockout in her life, a wonderful writer and a fabulous person’ MAYA ANGELOU
ZORA NEALE HURSTON READING GUIDE
Read on for a guide to the three Zora Neale Hurston titles Virago publish, in alphabetical order.
Dust Tracks on a Road
‘Warm, witty, imaginative . . . A rich and winning book’ NEW YORKER
‘Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture’ MAYA ANGELOU
‘One of the greatest writers of our time’ TONI MORRISON
First published in 1942 at the height of her popularity, Dust Tracks on a Road is Zora Neale Hurston’s candid, exuberant account of her rise from childhood poverty in the rural South to a prominent place among the leading artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance.
This edition was published by Virago in 2020 with a new introduction by Jesmyn Ward.
As compelling as her acclaimed fiction, Hurston’s literary self-portrait offers a revealing, often audacious glimpse into the life – public and private – of an extraordinary artist, anthropologist, chronicler and champion of the black experience in America. Full of the wit and wisdom of a proud, spirited woman who started off low and climbed high: ‘I have been in Sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows with a harp and a sword in my hands’.
Jonah’s Gourd Vine
Originally published in 1934, this is Zora Neale Hurston’s first novel. Virago published this new edition in 2020 with a new introduction by Jesmyn Ward.
Jonah’s Gourd Vine explores themes of trauma, domestic violence and marital disfunction. The novel is considered to be semi-autobiographical; the characters share the same first names as Hurston’s parents and make a similar migration from Notasulga, Alabama to Hurston’s childhood home, Eatonville, Florida.
‘Fierce, insightful and often devilishly funny’ COLIN GRANT, GUARDIAN
Born on the wrong side of the creek, John Buddy Pearson, the son of a slave, has come a long way since his shoeless days. With some schooling, a job and marriage to clever Lucy Potts, his fortunes are looking up. But, unable to resist the lure of women or a fight, he’s forced to flee town or face life on the chain gang.
John finds himself in Sanford, Florida, and sends for Lucy and the children. There, he discovers a talent for preaching, and, with the support of his wife, becomes pastor of Zion Hope Church, rousing his congregation with his fervent sermons. He is now a pillar of the community, respected and popular. Before long, though, he is praying for his own sins – for his powers of persuasion aren’t limited to the pulpit and the town won’t stand for his philandering ways.
‘A bold and beautiful book’ CARL SANDBURG
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Originally published in 1937, the new Virago edition – pictured above – was published January 2025.
‘There is no novel I love more’ ZADIE SMITH
Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance and Hurston’s best-known work. The novel was initially poorly received, since the late 20th century, however, it has been regarded as influential to both African-American literature and women’s literature. Time magazine included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923.
The book explores gender roles, female liberation, racial history and domestic violence.
‘This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what’s going to happen next’ GUARDIAN
She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her . . .
When, at sixteen, Janie is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams – who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds.
‘Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture’ MAYA ANGELOU
