Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel

A reimagining of Dante's Inferno in the post-slavery South, our hero makes her way to a new black township, rising in the social ranks through marriage until realizing that shit ain't all it's cracked up to be. At this point, Virgil takes her deep into the seven levels of hell, the white saviors grant her the sweet release of justice, and she makes it back to her prior established queendom. Maybe this is heaven? Great read, recommend in audio format for the choice dialogue.

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!