January/February 2003
 Wrapped In Rainbows: The Life Of Zora Neale Hurston
by Valerie Boyd
If there’s ever a complex literary figure in history, much maligned and misunderstood, it had to be Zora Neale Hurston. Of late, the poignant parameters of a rich legacy is increasingly becoming well known as African-Americans point to an icon they’d want to comprehend, if not emulate. She was much more than just a writer. Novelist, Anthropologist, Folklorist … it would be folly to only look on the surface when assessing the worth and influence of this giant.
By now, everyone should know the story: Fame and fortune in the 30’s and 40’s as a respected member of the Harlem Renaissance (according to what resources you research); ostracized and plagued by controversy when her work was no long in vogue in the 50’s; hit with a damaging scandal that cause publishers o shy away from her; and, unfortunately, lived her later life in obscurity and eventually succumbing penniless in 1960…relegated to an unmarked grave.
Alas. The poor wretched soul is fastly becoming a part of the cannon of recognized classical authors worthy of special treatment. She, of the persona who considered herself “hued and hallowed with a charismatic flair” Said her first biographer Ernest Hemmenway when asked to describe the essence of Zora: “She always carried a big stick, and defied anyone to challenge her writing style and mannerisms. In many ways she proved she belonged, and backed it up with substance and a rich flavor”.
Now comes Valerie Boyd who captures much more of this richness that’s told in a rather unique manner where direct quotational references by Zora are done in order for the author to make stark analogy in making the difference between innuendo and conjecture. Wrapped In Rainbows: The Life Of Zora Neale Hurston ultimately will attain a life of its own as the standard biography on Hurston. I contend as much based on how Ms Boyd conveys the complexity of the time in which Zora lived and how she enlarged through her writing style the aura of her persona.
She continued throughout the book utilizing consistent narrative interpretation, coloring her subject with enough of the antics that defined Zora and giving good report on them well within the margins of Zora’s anecdotal wit. In doing this, the author allows readers to perhaps feel the imagined anguish (if I may illustrate a major incident) of how Zora might have felt when in 1948 she was accused of molesting a 10 year boy; or when earlier colleagues and contemporaries dismissed her for various reasons, i.e., Langston Hughes, a onetime collaborator; her wealthy benefactor, Charlotte Osgood Mason; and, to a lesser degree Alain Locke and Carl Van Vecten.
To those who endeavor to learn more about Zora, start with this book and gravitate to other offerings that are now in the marketplace. You will see how Valerie Boyd wrote such a seamless work detailing how triumphant rather than tragic this author actually was. You’ll be able to hear her voice, feel her pain, and ponder the circumstances of how it would’ve been if she had lived in the modern era. Boyd’s biography is a bigger than life dissertation, full of the ingredients that makes for a any good novel calling to the journalistic style in which it was written.
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