Five Books to Read if You Loved "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a moving story of womanhood, race, loss, and self-discovery. If you've loved reading this book, here are five other lesser-known texts, from novels to books of poetry, that you'll probably also enjoy.

Jonah's Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston's biographical novelization of her parents' lives is moving and meaningful. But that doesn't mean it's an easy read. This story is a heartbreaking exploration of a gifted man who repeatedly fails his family and himself. If you're looking to explore more of Hurston's work, Jonah's Gourd Vine is a great next step.

Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

The coming-of-age story of a young Native American girl who finds healing and meaning by returning home. 17-year-old Angela has spent her childhood in foster care in Oklahoma. When she has the opportunity to return home to an island town on the border of Minnesota and Canada. Angela reconnects with the land in her history in this story that, like Hurston's, beautifully chronicles a woman's self-discovery.

Monument by Natasha Trethewey

Trethewey, like Hurston, explores her sexuality and race in this breathtaking collection of poems. Trethewey explores histories (her own, but also those of her family and forgotten African American heroes) in her poems, suggesting that, as we try to understand ourselves, looking back is as important as looking within.

The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes edited by Arnold Rampersad

Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes became acquainted in Harlem, where Hughes was working and where Hurston was pursuing her degree. The two even collaborated together, writing a play called Mule Bone, which drew from their joint love of folklore and the theater. While the two became estranged after their collaboration, Hughes' perspective is valuable for a reader who wants a wider picture of the ideas and culture that were essential to the Harlem Renaissance.

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson follows the journey of three real-life African Americans who, along with millions of others, participated in the 55-year migration of Black Americans from the South to the North. This nonfiction book merges the individual and universal seamlessly, creating a monumental picture of the Great Migration that awes the reader with both its scope and its compassion.

Their Eyes Were Watching God remains one of my favorite books of all time, partly from the pure joy I get from reading a beautiful book. The above books, while all very different, have a similar effect on me. I am captured by the writer's style, and mosey on through the book, enjoying every well-placed word.

What books would you recommend for lovers of Their Eyes Were Watching God?