Janie Mae Crawford’s been gone a long while, so tongues start wagging when she casually strolls back into town one evening. Her third husband is nowhere to be seen, but there’s more to Janie than first appearances imply. When her kissin-friend Phoeby arrives with a rice supper and a shoulder to cry on, Janie finds the strength to recount her journey. Set in rural Florida in the early 1900s, Hurston’s novel was heavily critiqued upon publication and went out of print for 30 years. Rediscovered and championed by Alice Walker, this beautifully written story attracted a rapt new audience when it was reissued in 1978; it went on to become one of the most celebrated African-American novels of the 20th century and is considered a modern classic.