“After finishing Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston I wondered which of three words best described it: magnificent, extraordinary or masterpiece. The research and interpretation of events is breathtaking, the writing precise and beautiful. The book takes such a warm, honest, all encompassing and wise view of its subject, that I read it from start to finish as though reading an adventure tale, which of course it is. Zora’s life was a mammoth adventure, and it is on this journey that Boyd, as if born to do so, takes us. However, as I was sifting through superlatives I was visited by a voice that sounded very much like Zora’s. That voice dismissed all concern about the praise-song I was planning and seemed content (profoundly content) with just one thought: My name is in my daughters’ hands, it said.
“This daughter, Valerie Boyd, has written a biography of Zora Neale Hurston that will be the standard for years to come. Offering vivid splashes of Zora’s colorful humor, daring individualism and refreshing insouciance, Boyd has done justice to a dauntless spirit and a heroic life.”
— Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
“Valerie Boyd has paid to Zora Neale Hurston the tribute and the service that any writer—any human being—might dream of getting: the enormous and patient care that, alone, produce both a truthful record and final understanding. Sad as much of its story is, Wrapped in Rainbows is finally exultant.”
— Reynolds Price, author of Noble Norfleet
“Much like its formidable subject, the incomparable Zora Neale Hurston, this biography is gorgeous, epic, larger than life, and like Ms. Hurston’s own work is a momentous treasure, not to be missed.”
— Edwidge Danticat, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory
“Zora Neale Hurston’s books and plays have always spoken proudly and boldly for themselves. Now, with Valerie Boyd’s Wrapped in Rainbows-the first truly definitive biography of this American original-Hurston herself emerges as a woman in full with the array of intellectual and emotional curves, angles and dimensions that prepared her to create characters as memorable as Their Eyes Were Watching God’s Janie and Teacake.
“This important and long-awaited biography is a clear-eyed and affectionate tribute to Hurston’s luminous talent, elevating this daughter of the South to her rightful place among the giants of American literature and the pioneers of early 20th century anthropology.
“With impressive scholarship and sisterly empathy, Boyd captures Hurston’s fierce spirit as she navigates life’s high and low moments, always slaying heartache, sorrow and betrayal with laughter and a triumphant sense of irony.”
— A’Lelia Bundles, author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker
"Hurston's life is as dramatic a story as any she ever wrote. Valerie Boyd documents its highs and lows in vivid and accessible prose. She fills in long missing chapters, frames the historical and cultural backgrounds, and portrays the large cast of characters that Hurston encountered along the way. Best of all, Wrapped in Rainbows captures Zora: a brilliant, bold, contrary and determined woman, who, despite incredible odds, became a great artist. A luminous biography."
— Cheryl A. Wall, Rutgers University, author of Women of the Harlem Renaissance
“Valerie Boyd has written a superb biography of a fascinating and complex writer. She brings Zora to life, and portrays her in all of her complexity and bodaciousness.”
— Robert Hemenway, Chancellor, the University of Kansas, author of Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography
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