ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL NOVELS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

'This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what's going to happen next' GUARDIAN

'One of the greatest writers of our time' TONI MORRISON

'Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture' MAYA ANGELOU

'There is no novel I love more' ZADIE SMITH

She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her . . .

When, at sixteen, Janie is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams - who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds.

Books included in the VMC 40th anniversary series include: Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Paley; Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault; The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter; The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann; Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Heartburn by Nora Ephron; The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy; Memento Mori by Muriel Spark; A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor; and Faces in the Water by Janet Frame

"To the last page that fills the soul with tears, Hurston's novel delivers. To me, it is also a welcome reminder that books are democratic, subversive and life-changing" - The Times

"This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what's going to happen next. Many romantic novels basically have the same plot, but this novel is something no one would have ever imagined" - Guardian

"A poignant story, told with almost rhythmic beauty" - Kirkus Reviews