Zora Neale Hurston always yearned for a life of independence and adventure. But born at a time when there were few opportunities for black people, and even fewer for black women, many of Zora's relatives, including her stern father, thought her ambitions and dreams were unrealistic and even dangerous. Her mother always believed in her though, and inspired in Zora a love of reading and learning. Zora struggled through her hard youth and the death of her beloved mother by engrossing herself in the stories and folktales of the people of Eatonville, Florida, but when she grew into a young woman, clashes with her stepmother pushed her to Washington, D.C., where she attended prep school and Howard University. As she began a career as a writer, Zora moved to New York, where she became a vital member of the burgeoning Harlem Renaissance. After studying anthropology, Zora began traveling, collecting the stories of her youth to share them with the world. Her travels took her back into the Deep South, into the tropics of the Bahamas, and into the mysterious and dangerous world of voodoo. She had many love affairs and married often, but her commitment to her independence and her career were unflappable. Through it all, she maintained a self-love, pride, and an overwhelming joy in life and being herself that defined her life and her work, and inspires so many today. Book jacket.