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Book Review: Wrapped In Rainbows - The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd (Virago Press)

Reviewer: Ike Ikwuemesi

Wrapped In Rainbows cover

“Hurston, on the other hand, sought her identity in her own self, in her work, in writing and speaking her mind”. The quote is an excerpt from Wrapped in Rainbows, Valerie Boyd’s biography of Zora Neale Hurston, the American writer and culturalist who trail blazed her way through life to posthumous accolades. One of the leading lights of the Harlem renaissance from the 1920s, Hurston went on to be an iconic embodiment of African American perseverance and achievement in arts and culture. Amongst today’s grand black female scribblers à la Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison she’s often cited as the foremother to their erudite talents. Cultural interest in Hurston is greater than ever meaning that Boyd’s fine-tooth combing account of her life is most timely.

To gain as much of an understanding of Hurston, the literary figure, as possible, Boyd fills us in on her upbringing in the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida; it was within this rural and familial setting that Hurston’s venturous outlook was inspired and stimulated without the fear of consequence. Occasionally, Boyd infuses the narrative with textbook psychoanalysis to clarify some of Hurston’s actions. The cynics amongst us might not be overly keen to accept the clinical conclusions drawn, Hurston’s artistic temperament hardly seeming amenable to the law of conventional logic.

Nevertheless, Boyd puts forth a comprehensive picture of how and when Hurston was drawn to the arts and entertainment Mecca that was the Harlem renaissance. Hurston, being the savvy country gal raconteur, found herself at its epicentre, chumming up with the more radical intellectuals of the scene like Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman and Countee Cullen. This “in your face” arty collective were less interested in establishment conventions and much more focused on black creativity that was “keeping it real”. So blunt and ironical was their direction that they jokingly termed their likeminded network as “the niggerati”.

And in stark parallel contrast, Boyd also details Hurston’s academic pursuits at a lilywhite college. Hurston would comfortably mix it up within these two different circles. She was willing to seek the necessary patronage from the more privileged to advance herself. And indeed she did. In fact, this is where Hurston’s pioneering status catches fire. She begins to go on anthropological assignments at home and abroad to observe and record black folklore culture, often as a participant in order to gain more of an understanding. Such was the case when so great was her curiosity about Voodoo that she went through the requisite rituals to become a Priestess. The mystical theme pervades Boyd’s book. She recollects the weird premonitions Hurston had that would see her experience such highs and lows: “A cosmic loneliness was my shadow” was Hurston’s reflective summation. The highs would come with the critically acclaimed essays, short stories and breakthrough novels that she would write in between and during her expeditions, revealing African American literature in all its provincial glory.

Although Hurston was a prolific writer only a handful of books were actually published. Despite the literary strides she made Boyd details the hand to mouth existence Hurston too often experienced. So poor she had to borrow money from a beggar. Loss of a dear friendship, unfulfilling marriages and an almost career-squashing court case were the lowlights she had to endure. And yet, she was known for her often contentious political and social views that would land her in hot water with fellow black luminaries. Ironically, statements she made then have come to be seen as quite visionary.

Readers particularly interested in life stories will no doubt find Wrapped in Rainbows thoroughly engrossing from beginning to end. Boyd’s up-to-date perspective on Hurston may still not be as definitive as one would have liked; part of her life has been obscured –Hurston in her own autobiography left us none the wiser – and perhaps will forever remain a mystery. But credit to Boyd - rather than flat out conjecture she has conceded to gaps in Hurston’s life where there were no credible records to elaborate upon. Crucially, what is very much at the essence of Boyd’s biography is Hurston’s cultural achievements that have transcended her from her literary field into an archetype for individualism.

Note: 'Gunshots...' is out in paperback and hardcover now.