The novel was way ahead of its time in the depiction of a strong Black female protagonist, and it had a great influence on on Black authors, female writers and literature as a whole.
“There is no book more important to me than this one,” said Alice Walker, herself the author of what many believe to be one of the most important pieces of literature in history. Written in 1937, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God centers on the life, loves and losses of Janie Crawford, a middle-aged woman who recounts her transformation from a blossoming teen to a self-possessed woman. The novel was way ahead of its time in the depiction of a strong Black female protagonist, and it had a great influence on on Black authors, female writers and literature as a whole.