Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Zora Neale Hurston wrote in a rich cultural style that I have read no where else.  She fluently goes from 3rd person proper English to Old Harlem black slang.  This book is considered to be the autobiography of the author, however I believe it is also considered to be fiction. The story is set in the South, in the 1920s, with the main character being a young woman named Janey.  Janey first lives with her old grandmother who marries her off to an older man who is very abusive to her.  She runs off with a another man to Southern Florida where they open a mercantile type store in the Everglades.  She lives with this man for years until his death.  She continues to run the store until a young man comes in one day and steals her heart.  She lives with him until a great hurricane comes and breaks open the lake and they along with others make a break North on foot.  Absolutey wonderful!  Its been a long time since I read something so rich and cultural.  Every character is full of life.  Ms. Hurston has been ridiculed by her peers for not giving her black characters the normal self-pity and white hatred that is so popular among many black authors.