What does soulful mean?

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God was for decades a well-loved secret among black women. Zadie Smith recalls her emotional first reading of the novel, and claims it as a classic for all audiences

This article has been removed as the copyright has expired

This article appeared in the Guardian on Saturday September 01 2007 on p4 of the Review comment & features section. It was last updated at 18:23 on February 24 2008.

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