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The Life of Herod the Great by Zora Neale Hurston & Deborah G. Plant

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The Life of Herod the Great

A Novel

by Zora Neale Hurston & Deborah G. Plant

Length 12 hours 7 minutes

Language English

Narrators Blair Underwood & Robin Miles

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Summary
About the authors
About the narrator

A never before published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great—not the villain the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of valor and vision.

In the 1950s, as a continuation of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel about one of the most infamous figures in the Bible, Herod the Great. In Hurston’s retelling, Herod is not the wicked ruler of the New Testament who is charged with the “slaughter of the innocents,” but a forerunner of Christ—a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea.

From the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod “appears to have been singled out and especially endowed to attract the lightning of fate,” Hurston writes. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived during the first 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 Herod 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. Hurston shared her findings about Herod’s rise, his reign, and his waning days in letters to friends and associates. Text from three of these letters concludes the manuscript in an intimate way. Scholar-Editor Deborah Plant’s ""Commentary: A Story Finally Told"" assesses Hurston’s pioneering work and underscores Hurston’s perspective that the first century BCE has much to teach us and that the lens through which to view this dramatic and stirring era is the life and times of Herod the Great.

Fiction Historical Fiction

Zora Neale Hurston wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountains; and Seraph on the Suwanee) and was still working on her fifth novel, The Life of Herod the Great, when she died; three books of folklore (Mules and Men and the posthumously published Go Gator and Muddy the Water and Every Tongue Got to Confess); a work of anthropological research (Tell My Horse); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road); an international bestselling ethnographic work (Barracoon); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and lived her last years in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Deborah G. Plant is an African American and Africana Studies independent scholar, author of Of Greed and Glory: In Pursuit of Freedom for All, and literary critic specializing in the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston. She is editor of the New York Times bestseller Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston and the author of Alice Walker: A Woman for Our Times, a philosophical biography. She is also editor of The Inside Light: New Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston, and the author of Zora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit and Every Tub Must Sit On Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston. She holds MA and Ph. D. degrees in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Plant played an instrumental role in founding the University of South Florida’s Department of Africana Studies, where she chaired the department for five years. She presently resides in Florida.

Blair Underwood is a two-time Golden Globe and Tony nominee and an Emmy, Grammy, and eight-time NAACP Image Award-winning actor, director, and producer. He made his acting debut in the 1985 musical film Krush Groove, and, from 1987 to 1994, starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series L.A. Law. Underwood has starred in numerous film, television, and stage productions, including Sex in the City, Set It Off, Madea's Family Reunion, and Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C. J. Walker. Underwood received his first Tony Award nomination as Best Lead Actor in a Play after starring in the 2020 Broadway revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Soldier’s Play.

Joe McClean is a screenwriter and director whose 2013 breakout indie feature, Life Tracker, screened at dozens of film festivals and sci-fi conventions before streaming On Demand in 100 million homes through cable providers. His follow up, the indie-darling The Drama Club, premiered at Grauman’s Chinese theater in 2017 before finding a home on Tubi. His most recent endeavor, Viral, written and produced by McClean, was directed by and stars Blair Underwood.