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Their Eyes Were Watching God for a new generation craving a romantic finale—a sweeping historical tale that is a journey of the heart and of the times.

If it wasn’t for Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Nola Denny didn’t know how she would have survived her father’s tragic death or her mother’s descent into mental illness. Inspired by Hurston’s main character, Janie Crawford, Nola sets out to find her own voice, silenced by the weight of being a caretaker and the pains of her past. On her journey to New York, Nola stops in Meridian—a detour that unexpectedly leads to a fresh start, a home, and her own Tea Cake, a Pullman Porter named Baldwin Carter.

Baldwin escaped a loveless childhood and found a caring stranger who invited him into her home and gave him a chance at a new life. A proud, hardworking Pullman Porter, Baldwin must endure bowing and scraping to passengers who barely see him as a man. When he encounters Nola, he instinctively knows he has met his anchor, a woman who makes every inch of him stand tall.

Experiencing loss, hardship, and months of separation, Nola and Baldwin must come to terms with their pasts to share a future together. The young couple know that time and distance cannot separate them, and that the sacrifices they must make are not only for themselves, but for all those who come after them, searching for a better life.

Set during the end of the Great Depression, and shaped by real-world events, crisscrossing the country from South to Midwest to North, Nola and Baldwin is an epic tale of a love powerful enough to overcome the dark forces of racism that threatens to tear it apart.

WHAT READERS AND REVIEWERS ARE SAYING

A moving story of romance, courage, and resilience in turbulent times. NOLA AND BALDWIN is both a stark lesson in history and an ode to the promises of love and community. – Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times Bestselling Author of Good Dirt

In Nola and Baldwin, Donna Hill expertly blends history, romance, and resistance. A beautiful nod to the central characters of Their Eyes Were Watching God, this novel is a triumph—and one I believe Zora Neale Hurston would be proud of. – Bernice L. McFadden, bestselling author of SUGAR and FIRST BORN GIRLS.

A pioneer of the genre, Donna Hill is at the height of her powers with Nola and Baldwin. It is Their Eyes Were Watching God for a new generation – a sweeping, lyrical epic that finally delivers the romantic finale our hearts have been craving. Set against the harsh shadows of the Great Depression, Hill crafts a masterful journey of resilience and a love powerful enough to anchor the soul. This isn’t just a romance; it’s a stunning tribute to the legacy of those who fought for a better life. Rich, soulful, and deeply moving. – ReShonda Tate, author of the USA Today Bestseller With Love from Harlem

“Nola and Baldwin is a beautifully told story of hardship, hope and enduring love that simply swept me away. Donna Hill masterfully captures the resilience of the human spirit against the backdrop of history. I had never read a novel that so thoroughly dropped me into the life of a Pullman Porter and I loved it. This story will linger long after the last page is read.” – Vanessa Miller, USA Today Bestselling author

Nola and Baldwin are a beautiful reminder that through endurance, there is love. Black love is one of the best forms of rebellion and Donna Hill brings that to life on the page. – Natasha Bishop, USA Today bestselling author of The Art of Loving You.

Donna Hill delivers a gripping, emotionally rich triumph in Nola and Baldwin. Through unforgettable first-person narration, readers are placed directly into the hearts and minds of Nola Faye Denny and Baldwin “Win” Carter, feeling every ounce of their love, longing, struggle, and fear. Hill captures the brutality of racism and the crushing weight of oppression, while never losing sight of Black resilience, ambition, and hope. The cadence, vernacular, and emotional authenticity sing from every page, creating a story that feels both deeply personal and profound. Sweeping, intimate, and unforgettable, this is historical fiction at its finest. – Vanessa Riley, Award-Winning Author of Island Queen and Fire Sword and Sea​

Nola and Baldwin is a delightfully stunning portrait of resilience and familial legacy – a vibrant glimpse into the triumphs, heartbreak, and broken promises of the migration we came to call great. – Phill Branch, Emmy Award Winning Director and Author of the Double Dutch Fuss

Donna Hill has crafted a deeply human love story that titillates as much as it teaches, balancing the painful realities of post-Emancipation Black life with the unsinkable hopes and dreams of the titular hearts. As Nola and Baldwin refuse to accept trauma and dehumanization as the norm, their demand and pursuit for joy keeps you rooting for their happy ever after. – Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Author of My Parent’s Marriage

Immersive. Palpable. Gorgeous. A layered and intense love story. – Kalima Sesuze, Owner and Founder of Café con Libros.

What a story! Donna Hill has written such a beautiful and emotional love story that is shaped by and wrapped in history. From the first page, I was immersed in Nola and Baldwin’s worlds, feeling every heartbreak and tragedy, but also every triumph and moment of hope. I was with Nola as she fled her past in search of a future she couldn’t yet see. And through Baldwin’s work as a Pullman porter, I experience a remarkable piece of American history. From Meridian to New Orleans, Chicago and New York, I wasn’t just reading, I was transported through the pages. I finished reading Nola and Baldwin weeks ago and the two still linger with me. I didn’t want their journey to end. – Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times Bestselling author of Harlem Rhapsody

Ascension Publishing’s newly minted publisher Morgan Chambers has to make the organization profitable or risk everything he’s ever worked for if it fails. Morgan doesn’t have time for distractions like pretty Noa Dunnavant. He’s only meeting with her to discuss her novel. Not the fact that he can’t stop thinking about her.

Noa’s novel is the lightning rod the company needs. Her book’s success is good for her ego, and covertly spending time with Morgan is good for her soul. But that little pink plus sign changes everything. A baby was never part of their plans. Will this plot twist begin their final chapter, or seal their happily-ever-after?