https://www.zoranealehurston.com/genre/fiction/Recent content in Fiction on Zora Neale HurstonHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usThe Official Website of Zora Neale HurstonTue, 07 Jan 2025 12:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/the-life-of-herod-the-great/Tue, 07 Jan 2025 12:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/the-life-of-herod-the-great/In the 1950s, as a continuation of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the “slaughter of the innocents,” but the forerunner of Christ—a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/hitting-a-straight-lick-with-a-crooked-stick/Tue, 05 Jan 2021 00:00:00 -0500https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/hitting-a-straight-lick-with-a-crooked-stick/From “one of the greatest writers of our time” (Toni Morrison)—the author of Barracoon and Their Eyes Were Watching God—a collection of remarkable stories, including eight “lost” Harlem Renaissance tales now available to a wide audience for the first time. New York Times’ Books to Watch for Buzzfeed’s Most Anticipated Books Newsweek’s Most Anticipated Books Forbes.com’s Most Anticipated Books E!’s Top Books to Read Glamour’s Best Books Essence’s Best Books by Black Authorshttps://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/their-eyes-were-watching-god/Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/their-eyes-were-watching-god/When first published in 1937, this novel about a proud, independent black woman was generally dismissed by male reviewers. Out of print for almost thirty years, but since its reissue in paperback edition by the University of Illionois Press in 1978, Their Eyes Were Watching God has become the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature. With haunting sympathy and piercing immediacy, Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of Janie Crawford’s evolving selfhood through three marriages.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/the-complete-stories/Tue, 08 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/the-complete-stories/This landmark gathering of Zora Neale Hurston’s short fiction - most of which appeared only in literary magazines during her lifetime - reveals the evolution of one of the most important African American writers. Spanning her career from 1921 to 1955, these stories attest to Hurston’s tremendous range and establish themes that recur in her longer fiction. With rich language and imagery, the stories in this collection not only map Hurston’s development and concerns as a writer, but also provide an invaluable reflection of the mind and imagination of the author of the acclaimed novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/every-tongue-got-to-confess/Tue, 01 Oct 2002 04:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/every-tongue-got-to-confess/African-American folklore was Zora Neale Hurston’s first love. Collected in the late 1920s, Every Tongue Got to Confess is the third volume of folk-tales from the celebrated author of Their Eyes Were Watching God. It is published here for the first time. These hilarious, bittersweet, often saucy folk-tales – some of which date back to the Civil War – provide a fascinating, verdant slice of African-American life in the rural South at the turn of the twentieth century.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/mule-bone/Thu, 28 Mar 1991 04:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/mule-bone/Mule Bone is the only collaboration between Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, two stars of the Harlem Renaissance, and it holds an unparalleled place in the annals of African-American theater. Set in Eatonville, Florida–Hurston’s hometown and the inspiration for much of her fiction–this energetic and often farcical play centers on Jim and Dave, a two-man song-and-dance team, and Daisy, the woman who comes between them. Overcome by jealousy, Jim hits Dave with a mule bone and hilarity follows chaos as the town splits into two factions: the Methodists, who want to pardon Jim; and the Baptists, who wish to banish him for his crime.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/moses-man-of-the-mountain/Mon, 28 Jan 1991 23:21:22 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/moses-man-of-the-mountain/In this 1939 novel based on the familiar story of the Exodus, Zora Neale Hurston blends the Moses of the Old Testament with the Moses of black folklore and song to create a compelling allegory of power, redemption, and faith. Narrated in a mixture of biblical rhetoric, black dialect, and colloquial English, Hurston traces Moses' life from the day he Is launched into the Nile river in a reed basket, to his development as a great magician, to his transformation into the heroic rebel leader, the Great Emancipator.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/seraph-on-the-sewanee/Mon, 28 Jan 1991 05:00:00 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/seraph-on-the-sewanee/This novel of turn-of-the-century white “Florida Crackers” marks a daring departure for the author famous for her complex accounts of black culture and heritage. Full of insights into the nature of love, attraction, faith, and loyalty, Seraph on the Suwanee is the compelling story of two people at once deeply in love and deeply at odds. The heroine, young Arvay Henson, is convinced she will never find true love and happiness, and defends herself from unwanted suitors by throwing hysterical fits and professing religious fervor.https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/jonah-s-gourd-vine/Mon, 22 Jan 1990 23:16:18 +0000https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/jonah-s-gourd-vine/Jonah’s Gourd Vine, Zora Neale Hurston’s first novel, originally published in 1934, tells the story of John Buddy Pearson, “a living exultation” of a young man who loves too many women for his own good. Lucy, his long-suffering wife, is his true love, but there’s also Mehaley and Big ‘Oman, as well as the scheming Hattie, who conjures hoodoo spells to ensure his attentions. Even after becoming the popular pastor of Zion Hope, where his sermons and prayers for cleansing rouse the congregation’s fervor, John has to confess that though he is a preacher on Sundays, he is a “natchel man” the rest of the week.