For 30 years following its publication in 1937, this novel remained little-known and unread. It, like its author who was buried in an unmarked grave in 1960, seemed destined for historical obscurity. Then in 1975, when Alice Walker published an article in Ms. chronicling her search for Hurston's grave, interest in the once-famous Harlem Renaissance writer and her most successful novel soared. The story of Janie Crawford, unlucky in love but resilient in spirit, is now a deserved classic.