ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL NOVELS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

'This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what's going to happen next' GUARDIAN

'One of the greatest writers of our time' TONI MORRISON

'Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture' MAYA ANGELOU

'There is no novel I love more' ZADIE SMITH

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.

Books included in the VMC 40th anniversary series include: Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Paley; Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault; The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter; The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann; Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Heartburn by Nora Ephron; The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy; Memento Mori by Muriel Spark; A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor; and Faces in the Water by Janet Frame

About the Author

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was 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.

Reviews
To the last page that fills the soul with tears, Hurston's novel delivers. To me, it is also a welcome reminder that books are democratic, subversive and life-changing * The Times *
This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what's going to happen next. Many romantic novels basically have the same plot, but this novel is something no one would have ever imagined * Guardian *
For me, Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of the very greatest American novels of the twentieth century. It is so lyrical it should be sentimental; it is so passionate it should be overwrought, but it is instead a rigorous, convincing and dazzling piece of prose, as emotionally satisfying as it is impressive. There is no novel I love more
There is no book more important to me than this one. It speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done
Zora Neale Hurston was a knockout in her life, a wonderful writer and a fabulous person. Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture
A poignant story, told with almost rhythmic beauty * Kirkus Reviews *



Book Information
ISBN 9780349010335
Author Zora Neale Hurston
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 214g
Dimensions(mm) 202mm * 137mm * 19mm