You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
HQ to publish never-before-seen novel by Zora Neale Hurston
HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins, has acquired The Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston.
Editorial director Clare Gordon acquired UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada from Janice Suguitan at HarperCollins US – who will publish on the Amistad imprint – and the book will be published on 7th January 2025 in hardback, e-book and audiobook.
"As a sequel to Moses, Man of the Mountain [Harper Perennial Modern Classics], Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel reconsidering the life of one of the most infamous Biblical figures, Herod the Great, depicting him in a light very different from his villainous portrayal in the New Testament," the synopsis says. "In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is a forerunner of Christ, a religious and philosophical man who enriched Jewish culture and lived a life of valour and vision."
The synopsis adds: "An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the 1st century BCE, in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new. Portraying him within this vivid and dynamic world of antiquity, little known to modern readers, Hurston’s unfinished manuscript brings this complex, compelling, and misunderstood leader fully into focus."
Gordon said: "Zora Neale Hurston is a modern literary icon and The Life of Herod the Great is nothing short of a masterpiece. It is an immense privilege to be working with the Amistad team and [scholar and editor] Deborah Plant to bring it to readers. Although it was written in the 1950s, its message still resounds with the world of today."
