The Life of Herod the Great: A Novel

by Zora Neale Hurston, Deborah G. Plant

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A fictional account of a complex Biblical figure from an iconic storyteller. Challenging the worldview of this infamous ruler and painting a vivid portrait of his life from childhood to his controversial reign and his friendships with people like Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063161009
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	14,013
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

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 Literature and Africana Studies Independent Scholar and literary critic specializing in the life and works of Zora Neale Hurston. She is editor of The Life of Herod the Great (2025) by Zora Neale Hurston and author of Of Greed and Glory: In Pursuit of Freedom for All (2024); editor of Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” (2018), a New York Times bestseller, by Zora Neale Hurston; and author of Alice Walker: A Woman for Our Times (2017), a philosophical biography. She is also editor of The Inside Light: New Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston (2010); and author of Zora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit (2007) and Every Tub Must Sit On Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston (1995). She holds a BA from Southern University, an MA from Atlanta University, and MA and Ph. D. degrees in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was instrumental in founding the University of South Florida’s Department of Africana Studies and chaired the department for five years. Plant resides in Florida.

Date of Birth:

January 7, 1891

Date of Death:

January 28, 1960

Place of Birth:

Eatonville, Florida

Place of Death:

Fort Pierce, Florida

Education:

B.A., Barnard College, 1928 (the school's first black graduate). Went on to study anthropology at Columbia University.

Editorial Reviews

10/28/2024

In this unfinished novel, Hurston (1891–1960) attempts a biblical retelling similar to her novel Moses, Man of the Mountain, unspooling a stimulating if rushed revisionist narrative of Herod the Great. It opens with a 25-year-old Herod appointed as governor of Galilee by his father. The young leader quickly rids Galilee of bandit Hezekiah and his followers. The killings earn Herod adoration from Galilee’s residents but ire in Jerusalem, where some see his actions as reckless. Jealous Judean king Hyrcanus puts Herod on trial for the murders, but his powerful presence in court strikes his accusers silent and he’s set free. His strained relationship with Hyrcanus continues as Herod battles new enemies, grieves his father’s death by poisoning, gains the trust of Mark Antony, and becomes co-governor of Judea. After Hyrcanus is captured by an invading Parthian army, Herod saves hundreds of women from danger and then travels to Rome, where he demands to be named king of Judea. Because Hurston left the manuscript incomplete, chunks of the plot are missing, particularly toward the conclusion. Still, she delivers an intriguing counterpoint to the biblical “massacre of the innocents” story, framing Herod as a strong and complex protagonist, one who balances his political ambitions with his loyalty to his people. Hurston completists ought to snatch this up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Full of adventure, glamour, and historical figures, including Herod's close friends Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, this is a fascinating addition to the Hurston canon." — Booklist (starred review)

"Showcases both [Zora Neale Hurston's] training in cultural anthropology and her storytelling brilliance. … A valuable edition to Hurston’s canon that will appeal both to her fans and to new readers of her work." — Library Journal

"In the 1950s, Zora Neale Hurston spent many years writing a historical novel about the biblical King Herod as follow-up to her 1939 book, Moses, Man of the Mountain. When Hurston died in 1960, the manuscript remained unpublished and was almost destroyed in a fire. But Plant, a Hurston scholar, painstakingly combed through the surviving singed and smoke-stained pages to bring The Life of Herod the Great to readers for the first time. The result is a stunning and layered work of imagination and scholarship." — Esquire

"If you’re looking to delve into a different perspective of this historical figure while revisiting the writing of Hurston, this book should definitely be on your TBR list." — Essence

"It’s narrated by two extraordinary performers, Blair Underwood and Robin Miles. It makes for a bracing, enlivening audio experience, as Hurston lays out the case for the defense of Herod—arguing that his portrayal throughout history has played fast and loose with the evidence and overlooked his record as a benevolent leader. Underwood and Miles read with great gusto and conviction, mirroring Hurston’s ability to weave folklore and mythology into story, and to animate figures both familiar to us and utterly unknown." — Financial Times

"Plant, who offers commentary throughout, has done a valiant job … [Hurston's] belief in the work is apparent and, frankly, breathtaking." — Washington Post

"Hurston’s novel is the saga of a man on a hero’s journey within a rich cultural landscape full of passion, deceit, and political turmoil. Filled with noble purpose and eloquent in speech, Herod’s story unfolds in grand style. … A larger-than-life narrative that feels like a sweeping 1950s Hollywood epic. … Hurston brings Herod’s life to light with an emphasis on the precarious world in which he lived. Beloved king, notorious villain, handsomest of all men? The Life of Herod the Great presents Hurston’s own strongly researched analysis in dramatic detail." — Historical Novel Society

"Herod is an important piece, and the newly published edition (as well as the excellent scholarly commentary by editor Dr. Deborah Plant) is an invaluable artifact for Hurston specialists and historians of American literature. … What we have in these pages is a monument to Hurston’s passionate, piercing intellect, fired by curiosity and persistence. It is invaluable to Hurston scholars, offering a glimpse into her creative process, her abiding academic and artistic passions, her unflagging drive to keep creating art and scholarship." — Chicago Review of Books

"A never-before-published novel from the arguable literary doyenne of the Harlem Renaissance—and inarguable queen of the first line. … [Hurston] nearly completed this detailed, revolutionary rethinking of Herod, presenting a man usually seen as one of the bloodiest villains in the Bible as a charismatic ruler who led his people toward peace and prosperity. To complete the unfinished manuscript—nearly destroyed and partly burned in a fire—editor Deborah Plant includes excerpts from the author’s letters and an insightful commentary." — Oprah Daily

"There is much here for any reader to enjoy, whether they are fans of Huston’s fiction or eager for a deep dive into a subject rarely seen outside religious texts or histories." — BookPage

"The Life of Herod the Great—like Hurston herself—is a masterpiece, a miracle, and a marvel. In other words, treasure for the whole world." — Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage, Silver Sparrow, and Leaving Atlanta

From the Publisher

12/01/2024

Built from the fragments of an unfinished novel that was, in part, salvaged after a fire and missing significant narrative sections, this rescued work, edited and with commentary by Deborah G. Plant (an independent scholar of African American and Africana studies), demonstrates Hurston's (1891–1960) profound ability to shape from the past a version of her present and society's future. It showcases both her training in cultural anthropology and her storytelling brilliance. Her writing style presents historical accuracy, with voices that bring to mind the stylized cadences of a chorus. She uses the biblical story of Herod the Great as a mechanism for exploring concepts of power in ways that are as relevant now as they were when she last worked on a draft of this title in 1958. Familiar as the story of Herod may be, Hurston puts her authorial signature on it. The missing sections invite readers to think about what other changes she might have made through her linguistic choices, images, and emphases. VERDICT A valuable edition to Hurston's canon that will appeal both to her fans and to new readers of her work. Pair with Alice Walker's In Search of Our Mother's Gardens.—Emily Bowles

Library Journal

2024-12-11
A long-lost manuscript from the pioneering folklorist, anthropologist, and student of Black history.

Following onMoses, Man of the Mountain (1939), Hurston spent years studying the life of Herod the Great, the famed Jewish leader. Her editor rejected the resulting book, which wound up in a trunk and then, following her death, in flames—the trunk burned by a crew hired to clear out her house—and miraculously rescued by a passing sheriff’s deputy who knew she was a writer. Hurston had two apparent purposes: She wished to chronicle “the 3,000 years struggle of the Jewish people for democracy and the rights of man,” and she saw in Herod’s alliance with Rome a metaphor for the Cold War struggle between Russia and the United States. While many ancient sources portray Herod as a tyrant, anticipating the fiercer denunciation of his son as the scourge of both Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, Hurston builds on other accounts; in particular, she rejects the charge that a monstrous Herod ordered “the massacre of the innocents,” instead insisting that “he was beloved by the nation.” The Herod of her story is a smolderingly handsome man suitable for a romance novel, which earns him the attention of a lustful and decidedly bad Mariamne, who repaid his blandishments by plotting his death, bringing it instead on herself: “Mariamne was dead. Dead. Never to burn away annoyances with her hot, soft body.” Hurston sometimes writes with a kind of high-gothic-romance seriousness (“My own father is at fault for beseeching Caesar to reinstate this treacherous Hyrcanus in the priesthood”), mixing in charming if perhaps not quite appropriate Southernisms (“Cleopatra knew more ways to kill a cat besides choking it to death on butter”). Altogether, the manuscript, while an interesting historical document, lacks the polish of Hurston’s classic books, such asDust Tracks on a Road andTheir Eyes Were Watching God.

Not Hurston at her best, though completists will certainly take interest in her story.

Kirkus Reviews