Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonah’s Gourd Vine | 1934 | Zora Neale Hurston | Buy |
| 2 | Their Eyes Were Watching God | 1937 | Zora Neale Hurston | Buy |
| 3 | Moses, Man of the Mountain | 1939 | Zora Neale Hurston | Buy |
| 4 | Seraph on the Suwanee | 1948 | Zora Neale Hurston | Buy |
| 5 | Barracoon | 2018 | Zora Neale Hurston | Buy |
| 6 | The Life of Herod the Great | 2025 | Zora Neale Hurston | Buy |
Zora Neale Hurston published four novels during her lifetime, beginning with Jonah’s Gourd Vine in 1934 and including her most famous work, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in 1937. Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939) retells the biblical Exodus story through an African American lens, while Seraph on the Suwanee (1948) was her only novel with white protagonists.
Two posthumous works have expanded her novel output. Barracoon (2018) is a non-fiction narrative based on Hurston’s 1927 interviews with Cudjo Lewis, one of the last known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade. The Life of Herod the Great, a historical novel completed before her death, was published in 2025.