“A gripping narrative don't miss this historical fiction about the woman who kicked off the
Harlem Renaissance.”— People Magazine “A page turner and history lesson at once Harlem
Rhapsody reminds us that our stories are our generational wealth.”—Tayari Jones New York Times
bestselling author of An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club Pick) She found the literary
voices that would inspire the world…. The extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the
Harlem Renaissance written by Victoria Christopher Murray New York Times bestselling coauthor
of The Personal Librarian . In 1919 a high school teacher from Washington D.C arrives in
Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary
editor of The Crisi s. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro
magazine Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that
jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois the founder of The Crisis is not only Jessie’s boss
he’s her lover. And neither his wife nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two
apart. Amidst rumors of their tumultuous affair Jessie is determined to prove herself. She
attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor finding sixteen-year-old
Countee Cullen seventeen-year-old Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen who becomes one of her
best friends. Under Jessie’s leadership The Crisis thrives…every African American writer in
the country wants their work published there. When her first novel is released to great
acclaim it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music theater and
the arts. She has shaped a generation of literary legends but as she strives to preserve her
legacy she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.
