Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR! “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.
