their eyes were watching god by Zora Neale Hurston

Very often, when Rain rolls in and makes himself at home on my deck furniture, and Gloom creeps under the door demanding my undivided attention, I seek shelter in the pages of a book. And then little Miss Sunshine tells me her remarkable tales of all she’s seen on this big blue marble. She sends whispers of Truth to touch my skin and the magical wings of Fiction to whip the air around me.
And sometimes, in that bewitching frenzy of words and imagination, I meet a character who stays with me a lifetime.
Janie Crawford quickly made her way to the top of that very long list!
And Zora Neale Hurston, her creator, found her way there, too.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of the most amazing books I have read in a very long time. I received such warm pleasure from the author’s delightful writing style. Her clever balance between the rough Southern/Caribbean dialog and her poetic story-telling left my copy of the book dog-eared and weathered. I often stopped to smile at the heavens while reading her brilliant descriptions and Janie’s profound musings ... and more than one friend was forced to hear me read excerpts out loud.
Not only is this an important work of fiction, delving into issues of race, class, prejudice, jealously, and most importantly, love, but it is also - very simply - a wonderful adventure story!
Miz Janie is a woman I would want to come sit on my porch and tell me stories until we both collapsed into a pool of tears thunderously churning with waves of laughter.