Their Eyes Were Watching God

Excellent love story of tragedy and coming of age and womanhood.

The ending of this book- the last two paragraphs- are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever read.
And the titular reference in the book is also among the best.
Beautiful, tragic, surprising.

An absolutely amazing book! A must-read!

From the beginning to the very end, this book was beautifully written—-especially when she and Tea Cake got together! After everything she had been through, I was so happy when she was with a man that allowed for her to experience a real and true love. And trust me, I was rooting for Tea Cake, but when he hit Janie, y’all… I was in shock. That felt so out of character for him! I was so mad at Tea Cake, that I had to put the book down for three business days—and that’s saying a lot! I was also so scared that she wasn’t going to be able to kill him when he had rabies because of her love for him, but I was so proud of her when she came through! Just to add—this is not a romance novel. While it explores romance, and Janie’s relationships, it’s ultimately about Janie’s quest for independence and self-discovery. I like the way that the main character, Janie Crawford, uses the relationships to find out who she is, based on what she liked or did not like in her different relationships with men. Overall, the language of this book was beautiful!

When I was recommended to read this book, I thought it would be an explicitly political book. Instead, it was a story about a woman and her personal journey (which is of course influenced by race due to the setting). It was a bit of a slow start, maybe because I had trouble understanding the southern accent, but by the end of the book, I was fully immersed. Hurston’s hold on language is amazing, and I found myself wanting to note something quotable on practically every page. I highly enjoyed reading about Janie gaining confidence in herself as a woman and her relationship with Tea Cake. I’m sure I’m missing some of the ‘deeper’ aspects of this book — maybe I’ll reread it some day.