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Self-discovery as a black woman
MARJORIE MAYO enjoys an engaging biography of an exceptional African-American novelist, anthropologist and folklorist
CLUES TO THE PAST: Women of an African American family, photographed between 1918 and 1922 [DeGolyer Library - Southern Methodist University/CC]

Zora Neale Hurston
Cheryl R Hopson, Reaktion, £12.99

THIS is the story of an exceptional African-American woman, a creative writer, an anthropologist and a folklorist, who grew up in the Deep South in the post-reconstruction period. 

Although she was born into a virulently violent, white supremacist society, she succeeded in gaining artistic and professional success through sheer determination and talent, becoming a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance

Cheryl R Hopson’s biography explores Zora Neale Hurston’s life and works, emphasising her remarkable achievements, whil recognising some of her inherent contradictions. 

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