This book explores Zora Neale Hurston's (1891-1960) artistic achievements and her character: her individualism, her penchant for drama, her sometimes controversial politics, her philosophical influences and her views on gender relations. The author explores Hurston's life and analyses her major works and short stories. Historical, social, political, and cultural contexts for Hurston's life and work, including her key role in the development of the Harlem Renaissance, are set out. With an overview of the reception of Hurston's work, both in her lifetime and up to the present, as well as suggestions for further reading.