Books by Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American writer best known for her novels and short stories. She was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays
by Zora Neale Hurston and narrated by Robin Miles
“This is the first collection of nonfiction I’ve come across, and it was put together from writings that she did, mostly from Manhattan, in Harlem, during the 1930s, 40s and up into the 50s and they reflect that period of history. She has a very strong, opinionated voice and she’s using it in these various essays. Some essays are longer than others, some are quite short. The latest is from the 1950s, when she attended a famous trial of a Black woman who was accused of murdering a white doctor after years of his abuse of her. Her voice and her opinions really resonate today. What’s interesting in listening to these essays is that Robin Miles—who we may have talked about before as an audiobook narrator, she’s one of our ‘Golden Voices’—is brilliant at capturing the subtleties of accents, tonal changes, certain regionalisms and the speech patterns. These essays weren’t written in the last decade, so the style of the writing is a little different. Robin picks up on all the cadences. The whole stylistic presentation of the essays is fabulous, and also the spirit of the writer, of Zora, comes through so well.” Read more...
Robin Whitten, Journalist
“It’s the story of Janie Crawford, who returns to her hometown in Florida in her forties. She looks back at her life and marriages. In many ways, the book recounts a conventional female journey of discovery and empowerment. There’s the bad first marriage, the marriage that seemed better but soon turned bad as well, and the third, better marriage which then ends tragically. It travels around a well-trodden circuit, but because it’s about a Black woman, the stakes are that bit higher and the book is fraught with structural racism and difficult compromises.” Read more...
The Best Historical Fiction Set in the American South
Xan Brooks, Novelist
Interviews where books by Zora Neale Hurston were recommended
The Best Historical Fiction Set in the American South, recommended by Xan Brooks
The ‘Deep’ South is a complicated place with a complicated history. But that’s what makes it such an effective literary setting, says Xan Brooks—author of The Catchers, a story of Blues music and exploitation that unfolds in the Mississippi Delta. Here he recommends some of the best historical fiction set in the American South, including novels by Flannery O’Connor and Mark Twain.
The Best African American Literature, recommended by Farah Jasmine Griffin
An ever-growing body of authors are writing about the reality of what it means to be black in America, says Farah Jasmine Griffin, director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. Here she recommends five works of African American literature, from greats like Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison to lesser-known gems by Ann Petry.
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1
The Marriage Portrait: A Novel
by Maggie O'Farrell & narrated by Genevieve Gaunt -
2
The Maid
by Nita Prose & narrated by Lauren Ambrose -
3
You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays
by Zora Neale Hurston and narrated by Robin Miles -
4
Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound
by Lake Bell -
5
In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss
by Amy Bloom
The Best Audiobooks of 2022, recommended by Robin Whitten
The Best Audiobooks of 2022, recommended by Robin Whitten
Every year AudioFile magazine reviews thousands of new audiobooks and in its annual best-of-the-year lists its editors include only books that make exceptional listening. Here Robin Whitten, AudioFile’s founder and editor, picks out five outstanding audiobooks in a range of genres and explains what it is that makes them special.
