Wrapped In Rainbows

“Wrapped in Rainbows, the Life of Zora Neal Hurston”

By: Valerie Boyd              

Author and journalist Valerie Boyd presents a detailed depiction of the colorful life of famous Harlem renaissance author Zora Neal Hurston. Starting from her all Black hometown of Eatonville Florida Hurston’s had never experienced true poverty until much later in her life as a struggling author. Instead as a child Hurston thrived from her imagination and open space to roam free. At a young age she lost her mother and never having a close relationship with her father Hurston was on her own, with the exception of minimal support from her siblings. Hurston’s was a life of mystery and flamboyance. Taking ten years off her age at 26 Ms. Hurston was able to re enter school under the guise of a teenager in order to pursue her goal of finishing school. Always being a free spirit Hurston realized that her purpose was not as a student in the classroom but instead as a student out in the field. Anthropology became her passion, and Southern Black folklore was her subject. Though Hurston is known best as a writing ‘Their eyes Were Watching God’, her enthusiasm came from collecting voodoo practices, ritual dances, children’s games, and stories. This book takes you from the rich streets of Harlem into the jungles of Haiti and Honduras to give a better grasp of this amazing woman and not just the contribution she gave to literature but the impression that she had on this world. Strengths in this book come from first-hand accounts and documentation from Hurston as well as her associates including Langston Hughes, Ethel Waters, and James Weldon Johnson.  I highly recommend it and I’m telling you guys to go out and read a book read a book read a book!!!