the story of a woman reflecting on her life, and what everything, the hardships, the tragedies, the happiness, has meant to her and how it has made her who she is. it is a frank exploration of black southern life at the time. there is community, prosperity, joy, ambition, support, judgement, colorism, classism, misogyny, the weight of slavery's past, and everything in between.

beautiful beautiful writing. the story is written in two voices with beautiful free indirect discourse - that of the "literate" narration (as described in the afterword) and that of the eye-dialect dialogue. these voices intertwine, blurring the lines between janie's and an omniscient narrator's perspectives, and reflecting the multi-faceted experience of the black woman author. the eye-dialect gives a sense of authenticity and really draws you into the setting, working with the powerful imagery to make it come alive.

nature is a very important aspect in janie's perspective, it is often personified and the subject of many lovely metaphors. nature is awe-striking, and throughout the book her relationship to it evolves from an appreciation of and wonder at nature's beauty, to the terror of nature's cruelty, wrath, and power.

throughout the story, janie often exists at the whims of men. she has complicated relationships with the men that come and go from her life. some force her to become a particular image they have of what a wife and woman should be. another allows her to display more of her real self, but still struggles with jealousy, irresponsibility, and control. the patriarchy always finds a way in.

ever since she was young, janie has longed for something more, to truly live. when she felt stuck and unhappy, she would look out to the horizon and send out her soul far from her body into nature. but even within the hardships, she has found love, laughter, joy, freedom, herself, and peace. that peace "pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in it's meshes! She called in her soul to come and see."

an absolute work of art.