Mary Helen Washington Boeken

A short story collection focused on "the black woman as seen from the special angle of the black woman writer." "Mary Helen Washington has had a greater impact upon the formation of the canon of Afro-American literature than has any other scholar." —The New York Times Book Review

One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published -- perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.

A vivid and bittersweet classic coming-of-age tale, set in immigrant Brooklyn. Set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression and World War II, Brown Girl, Brownstones chronicles the efforts of Barbadian immigrants to surmount poverty and racism and to make their new country home. Selina Boyce is torn between the opposing aspirations of her her hardworking, ambitious mother longs to buy a brownstone row house while her easygoing father prefers to dream of effortless success and his native island’s lushness. Featuring a new foreword by Edwidge Danticat, this coming-of-age tale grapples with identity, sexuality, and changing values in a new country, as a young woman must reconcile tradition with potential and change. "Remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control." —The New Yorker "An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears." —New York Herald Tribune

This book combines in one volume two now classic short story collections. The editor has added a new introduction and prefatory material."Mary Helen Washington has had a greater impact upon the formation of the canon of Afro-American literature than has any other scholar." --The New York Times Book Review