Cover design by Harlem renaissance artist Lois Mailou Jones

When Janie, at sixteen, 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 ...

'For me, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is one of the very greatest American novels of the 20th 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' Zadie Smith

'One of the greatest writers of our time' Toni Morrison

Reviews

There is no novel I love more' Zadie Smith

• ‘There is no book more important to me than this one. It speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done’ Alice Walker
• 'One of the greatest writers of our time' Toni Morrison
• ‘Zora Neale Hurston was a knockout in her life, a wonderful writer’ Maya Angelou 'My favourite love story of all time' Oprah Winfrey

Hardback

Published 01/05/2008