Publication Date: February 4, 2025
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 Crisis. 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.
Harlem Rhapsody by author Victoria Christopher Murray was eye-opening to the Negro Renaissance and the need for black voices to be heard telling their own stories through poetry, short stories, novels, and more.
The story begins in the autumn of 1919 and continues to the summer of 1925. Told from Jessie Redmon Fauset‘s point of view, a Negro woman well known for her accomplishments and with a lot of firsts to her name. But there were many supporting characters important in their own right, who rounded out the story, many of whose names I have heard.
W.E.B. Du Bois, also called Will, had a vision to provide a platform so black voices could be heard in the arts. He created The Crisis, a periodical for Negroes and a magazine for Negro writers. Will wanted them to be able to tell their stories and not have the white man telling them for them. Jessie, with whom he had a relationship, became his literary editor, and she lived and breathed his dreams since they were her own as well.
But while Jessie did the heavy work, every day going through the manuscripts and poetry she received, editing them, meeting with those who gave in submissions, and publishing The Crisis each month, she never got the recognition from Will that she deserved. It was always his baby, and he never let her forget it, even when others realized her role.
Will had a hard time giving up control even when he traveled to ensure the voices of his people would be heard. Jessie learned a lot by working with the NAACP directors and meeting so many potential authors, and poets, as well as established ones. Through it all, their relationship, where she was his surrogate wife, continued, and unfortunately for me, that took away from some of the story.
So many trials and tribulations the characters went through to be both seen and heard are unfortunately still true today. Jessie knew the importance of networking, and Will wasn’t always in agreement. They often clashed, and she’d cool their relationship only for her to return to him. His wife and daughter were in the background, and his wife seemed to know more about what was going on than she let on.
The story flowed well, and I loved how Jessie mentored so many. Her novel got many rave reviews. Even when she was honored, she seemed to be overlooked. The story ended differently than expected, and an epilogue would have given better closure.
Before reading the book, I read the two sections, Author Note and Historical Note, since Harlem Rhapsody is both historical and biographical fiction, which I had not been aware of. Â I thought it would give me some insight into what I would be reading, which definitely helped. Having grown up in New York before moving to Connecticut, I have also been to Harlem and eaten at a few of its restaurants, making Harlem and some locations easy to visualize.
Harlem Rhapsody drew me in from the beginning and shined a light on the Negro Renaissance. Knowing the book was based on historical facts was enlightening, and the author’s writing drew me in.  I look forward to reading more books by this author.
Victoria Christopher Murray is a New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including The Personal Librarian, a Good Morning America book club pick, and The First Ladies, Target’s 2023 Book of the Year, both of which she coauthored with Marie Benedict. She is a NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literary Work for her novel Stand Your Ground, which was also a Library Journal Best Book of the Year. She holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.