To be honest I wanted to read this book because I had read once that Zora Neale Hurston was a lesbian, a part of the glbt history that I am interested in. However, there is no concrete mention in this book that she is/was a lesbian.
I did however appreciate Valerie Boyd's extensive look in the life of Zora Neale Hurston. Zora was an amazing woman in my opinion. She was a strong person and had a strong personality which enabled her to make connections with certain wealthy benefactors during that time.
She was acquainted with numerous other Harlem Renaissance African-American writers, which for me seemed to make the history come even more alive.
Zora became an anthropologist, studying extensively her own culture and way of life. I can't even imagine the volumes that she wrote regarding her research. She was able to become a part of the community that she was studying, whether it was a former slave, a Haitian dancer or voodoo.
This book kept my attention and I certainly found it a fascinating read regarding a woman of color who had made a name for herself during her time and fortunately into the future.
I did however appreciate Valerie Boyd's extensive look in the life of Zora Neale Hurston. Zora was an amazing woman in my opinion. She was a strong person and had a strong personality which enabled her to make connections with certain wealthy benefactors during that time.
She was acquainted with numerous other Harlem Renaissance African-American writers, which for me seemed to make the history come even more alive.
Zora became an anthropologist, studying extensively her own culture and way of life. I can't even imagine the volumes that she wrote regarding her research. She was able to become a part of the community that she was studying, whether it was a former slave, a Haitian dancer or voodoo.
This book kept my attention and I certainly found it a fascinating read regarding a woman of color who had made a name for herself during her time and fortunately into the future.
Here is a biography about Zora Neale Hurston... it is a gorgeous epic, larger than life. All her books were out of print when she died in poverty in 1960, but today nearly every black woman writer of significance - Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Toni Morrison - acknowledges Hurston as a literary foremother. And her masterpiece "Their Eyes Were Watching God" has become a crucial part of the American literary canon.
