So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. That Zora Neale Hurston makes this age-old dilemma come so alive is a tribute to her understanding of the vagaries of human nature. Even after becoming the popular pastor of Zion Hope where his sermons and prayers for cleansing rouse the congregation’s fervor, he has to confess that though he is a preacher on Sundays, he is a “natchel man” the rest of the week.Īnd so in this sympathetic portrait of a man and his community, shows that faith and tolerance and good intentions cannot resolve the tension between the spiritual and the physical.

Lucy, his long-suffering wife, is his true love, but there’s also Mehaly and Big ‘Oman and the scheming Hattie who conjures hoodoo spells to ensure his attentions. Jonah's Gourd Vine, Zora Neale Hurston’s first novel, originally published in 1934, tells the story of John Buddy Pearson, “a living exultation” of a young man who loves too many women for his own good. section which includes insights, interviews, and more. This modern classic edition of Jonah's Gourd Vine features an updated cover and a P.S. A story of love and community, written by the hand of Zora Neale Hurston, one of the 20th century’s greatest authors, and a woman who truly understands her characters’ motivations.

Comin out strong vine