Hurston Trilogy Preempted by Candlewick
by Matthew Thornton -- Publishers Weekly, 12/7/2007 10:14:00 AM
On the eve of an auction for the first project ever endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust, Mary Lee Donovan at Candlewick preempted world rights to a YA trilogy by debut author V. T. Simon Bond via agent Victoria Sanders. Set in turn-of-the-century Eatonville, Florida , Hurston's physical birthplace as well as the home of her imagination, the trilogy conjures Hurston's early years from the perspective of best friend and partner-in-crime Carrie. The first book, titled Zora and Me: The Song of Ivory, finds Zora and Carrie trying to grow up and hold onto their innocence at the same time as the integrity of their Edenic hometown (one of the few virtually autonomous all-Black American towns at the turn of the century) is threatened when the corpse of a young man is discovered at the railroad.
The author initially approached Sanders, who represents Hurston's estate, to ask if the estate would read her novel and consider endorsing it. Subsequently, Sanders, equally impressed with Bond's writing and vision, got the estate's permission to represent the project herself.
