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Literary fiction, classics, dystopian, history, memoir, prize winners, and of course the 1001 books. You really might catch me reading anything!

Currently reading

Empire of Cotton: A Global History
Sven Beckert
Progress: 220/656 pages
SPOILER ALERT!

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

A woman finds her own power after decades of being under others' control. How can anyone not like that plot?

 

Janie was raised by her grandmother—who then married Janie off, at age 16, to a middle-aged man. Because she caught her kissing a "no-good" boy. And because she wanted Janie married before she herself passed on.

 

So off Janie went. And she hated it. Sixteen and married to an old (to her!) man who wanted her to cook, and clean, and work in the field. Not a bad man, but a dull old man.

 

So Janie ran off with a man who came by one day. He offered her an out, and she took it. Jody was still at least 15 years older than she. And again, not a bad man. A man who wanted Janie to be his showpiece mayor's wife and to clerk in his store.

 

And she did. For 20 years, more or less. And then Jody died. For the first time in her entire life she is free. She has the store, she has friends, and she can just rest and think for awhile.

 

And from there Janie finally gets to spend some years living and loving life.

 

——————————

 

Much of the book is written in dialect. Which I struggled with, as I always do. I had to read a lot of it out loud, because hearing it meant I could understand it.

 

But I admit it—I was over halfway through before I realized that "I god" meant "My god".