The story begins as Janie Crawford, a middle-aged black woman, returns to Eatonville, Florida after a long absence. The women in the town are gossiping about her return but her best friend Pheoby sticks up for her. Pheoby goes to visit Janie and Janie tells what has happened in the twenty years that she has been gone.
Janie explains that her grandmother raised her after her mother ran away. Nanny loves Janie but after her life as a slave and her experience with her own daughter, Nanny has a twisted worldview. Nanny wants Janie to have all the things that she never had. Her strongest desire is to have Janie get married as soon as possible to a husband that can provide for her. Despite Janie’s protests, Nanny finds an older farm-hand, Logan Killicks, and arranges for the two to be married.
After moving in together, Janie is miserable. Nanny had given her the idea that love comes after one is married rather than the idea that a couple should be in love before they are married. Because of this, Janie wants a love that will make her feel good all the time. But Logan makes Janie work hard and he cares very litter about her opinions. So when Joe Starks, a good-looking and ambitious man, comes along, Janie is sure that he is her ticket to love.
Joe and Janie run off together to Eatonville, Florida, the first all-black town ever. Joe hopes to have a big voice in the town and soon becomes the mayor, storekeeper, postmaster and biggest landowner in the town. Joe’s “voice” in the town soon becomes too large for Janie because Janie is never able to speak her mind. Janie realizes that her marriage to Joe is not all that she wanted in a relationship. Janie wants to be a part of the town and have a social life, but Joe doesn’t want her to spend time with common people. After twenty years of marriage, Joe dies and Janie feels free for the first time in years. She is no longer being repressed and can live her life according to what she wants.
One day, a man named Tea Cake comes into the store and Janie senses an instant connection. Janie begins to date Tea Cake despite the gossip of the townspeople. Tea Cake allows Janie to speak for herself and carry on like a normal person which is something that she loves. To the town’s shock, Janie marries Tea Cake only nine months after Joe’s death and they move to Jacksonville together. During the first week of their marriage, Tea Cake steals Janie’s money and leaves her alone one night, making her question her decision to marry him. Tea Cake returns and explains why he took Janie’s money. After this, they decide to share everything with each other.
Janie and Tea Cake then move to the Everglades, where they work harvesting beans and sugar cane. During the off-season, they socialize with the others living on “the muck.” They live off of the money they make and are happy in love. Tea Cake and Janie’s friendliness soon make their house an attraction for all of the town’s entertainment.
Two years after Janie and Tea Cake are married, a hurricane hits the Everglades. As they are trying to flee the high water, a rabid dog bites Tea Cake. Three weeks later, Tea Cake gets ill and in a bout of rabies-induced delirium, he tries to kill Janie. Janie is forced to save her life by killing Tea Cake. She is then put on trial for his murder, but the jury finds her not guilty. Janie returns to Eatonville where she faces the malicious gossip of her former neighbors who think that Tea Cake has left her and taken all her money. The story ends as Janie finishing recounting her experiences to an impressed Pheoby. After Pheoby leaves, Janie feels Tea Cake’s presence and is finally at peace with herself.
Completed by: Jennifer Barber
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