"This is a deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don’t know how to live properly. Hurston is a lyrical writer, and lyricism is not usually my cup of tea, but there are talents that go beyond genre and taste. Her greatest claim over me is that she never was ashamed of the novel as a form—she believed in the transformative power of storytelling, and she took risks with sentiment that few contemporary writers are prepared to make. This book is a part of my character now—that’s how many times I’ve read it. I don’t look to fiction to find heroes, but I have to admit that Janie has meant more to me than any other character. She’s singing my song, somehow. And you realize the breadth of Hurston’s talent when you find out how many other people feel exactly the same way."

"Alderton has been writing for UK newspapers and magazines for years, and then she wrote this book about love, but not necessarily about finding the love of a man. There’s a very deep female friendship at the heart of it. As a writer myself, anytime I write something that feels painful to tell, and you don’t know how people will respond to it, you’re laying yourself open to be criticized—as a woman especially, when you’re writing about people you’ve slept with and the bad choices you’ve made again and again. As soon as I read it,I got in touch with Alderton. I said ‘Please, please let me buy the rights to this book and let me make it,’ but someone had got there before me. It’s about not giving up, and not losing sight of the thing you’re after just because life has fucked you a few times along the way."