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4.0 

Harlem Rhapsody

By Victoria Christopher Murray
Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The extraordinary story of Jessie Redmon Fauset whose exhilarating world of friends, rivals, and passions all combined to create the magic that was the Harlem Renaissance, written by Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian.The extraordinary story of Jessie Redmon Fauset whose exhilarating world of friends, rivals, and passions all combined to create the magic that was the Harlem Renaissance, written by Victoria Christopher Murray, New York TimesNew York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal LibrarianThe Personal Librarian.
 
In 1919, as civil and social unrest grips the country, there is a little corner of America, a place called Harlem where something special is stirring. Here, the New Negro is rising and Black pride is evident everywhere…in music, theatre, fashion and the arts. And there on stage in the center of this renaissance is Jessie Redmon Fauset, the new literary editor of the preeminent Negro magazine The CrisiThe Crisis.
 
W.E.B. Du Bois, the founder and editor of The CrisisThe Crisis, has charged her with discovering young writers whose words will change the world. Jessie attacks the challenge with fervor, quickly 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 CrisisThe Crisis thrives, the writers become notable and magazine subscriptions soar. Every Negro writer in the country wants their work published in the magazine now known for its groundbreaking poetry and short stories. 
 
Jessie’s rising star is shining bright….but her relationship with W.E.B. could jeopardize all that she’s built. The man, considered by most to be the leader of Black America, 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. Their torrid and tumultuous affair is complicated by a secret desire that Jessie harbors — to someday, herself, become the editor of the magazine, a position that only W.E.B. Du Bois has held.
 
In the face of overwhelming sexism and racism, Jessie must balance her drive with her desires. However, as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.

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Harlem Rhapsody Reviews

4.0
“I will say this one was hard for me to get through because it was an FMC with a VERY different mindset than myself. So it made her extremely frustrating. I was shocked (but also not) to find out about an affair W.E.B Du Bois had, but more I was disappointed to know Jessie would risk her career and reputation to hold onto this man who told her he had different tastes. (His way of telling her there are others) and then she ended up upset and surprised she wasn’t the only one. Great historical fiction with reference to the Harlem renaissance and the way Black authors & entertainers of different media came to be in the 1920s.”

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