Harlem Rhapsody

Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray was originally published in 2025. It is a work of historical fiction, and Murray did extensive research on the Harlem Renaissance to portray the real-life figures of Jessie Redmon Fauset, her lover W. E. B. Du Bois, and the writers she discovered and mentored while working as literary editor of The Crisis magazine. Murray’s novel explores themes including The Value and Purpose of Art, The Importance of Mentorship, and Combatting Racism and Systemic Oppression.

This guide refers to the 2025 Berkley hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death, child death, racism, and gender discrimination. In particular, they discuss anti-Black racism and racist violence.

Language Note: While this guide does not reproduce the most racist terms for Black people, it does include the term “Negro,” which was the preferred term in the era depicted but is now outdated.

Plot Summary

Harlem Rhapsody spans the years that Jessie Redmon Fauset is literary editor of The Crisis, a magazine published by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)—a prominent organization dedicated to fighting racism and discrimination against Black Americans. The novel begins with Jessie and her stepmother arriving in New York. Jessie is having an affair with Black leader, author, and Crisis founder W. E. B. Du Bois, whom she calls Will, and he created a position at the magazine for her. Jessie’s family disapproves of this affair and forbids Will from entering Jessie’s brownstone apartment, which he has rented for her. The antagonist of the novel is Mary White Ovington, an NAACP board member who is friends with Will’s wife, Nina. She catches Will kissing Jessie in the office and tries repeatedly to get Jessie fired.

Jessie becomes friends and writing partners with Nella Larson; they are both working on novels. Will introduces Jessie to other NAACP board members and travels frequently. Will and Jessie co-found The Brownies’ Book, where she is thrilled to publish poems by Langston Hughes. Jessie attends Salem Methodist Church, where she meets the reverend’s son, Countee Cullen. Countee is also a writer, and she mentors him. Nina takes Jessie out to lunch and is kind to her.

After Will dedicates his book Darkwater to his wife, and doesn’t mention Jessie being his editor, Jessie decides to stop sleeping with Will. Several months later, he persuades her to restart their affair. Jessie learns that Will is also having an affair with Georgia Douglas Johnson, a poet whose work Jessie published in The Crisis. One day, Jessie runs into a former high school student of hers named Jean Toomer. She asks him to submit to the magazine, and he eventually does.

Jessie and her stepmother throw a party when the amendment giving women the right to vote passes. Nella, Georgia, Laura Wheeling (an old friend of Jessie’s), and Mary-Helen (Jessie’s sister) attend. A little while later, Jessie invites her stepmother and Mary-Helen to see the play The Emperor Jones, but they storm off when Will arrives. Will and Jessie argue about the play because it is written by a white man but stars a Black man. Jessie thinks that the play is progressive, but Will only wants to see media made by and for Black people.

After their argument, when Jessie has decided to end the affair again, Nina overhears Jessie and her stepmother discussing Will in a restaurant. A little over a week passes, and Will takes Jessie to a celebration for the newly formed Black Swan Records. She rejects his advances after the dinner, but they eventually rekindle their affair. Langston continues to submit work, which Jessie edits and publishes in both The Brownies’ Book and The Crisis. Will hints that The Brownies’ Book is struggling financially, and Jessie cuts costs at the printer, but the magazine has to be shut down after two years.

Will and Jessie co-organize and attend the second Pan-African Congress in Europe and then the League of Nations. Nina sends Jessie a telegram expressing concern that Will isn’t answering his telegrams, but Will tells Jessie that she shouldn’t worry about it. Jessie gives a speech about Black women who have earned PhDs, including her friend Sadie Tanner Mossell, and receives international acclaim, including an honorary membership in Delta Sigma Theta. When she returns to the US, her brother Arthur condemns her affair with Will.

Jessie finally meets Langston, and his mother, in person when he attends Columbia University. Langston struggles with the racism there and eventually leaves. Will and Jessie argue about including one of Langston’s poems in the magazine. Jessie introduces Langston to Charlotte Osgood Mason, who becomes his benefactor. Jessie also continues to mentor Jean and Countee.

On Will and Nina’s 25th anniversary, Jessie throws them a surprise party. This helps to quell the rumors about her and Will’s affair. She meets the poet Claude McKay at the party. One day at the hair salon, Jessie learns about Birthright, a novel about an educated Black person written by a white man, and reads it in a day. She discovers that it frequently repeats racist terms, and this causes her to agree with Will that Black writers should tell their own stories. Claude and Jessie have lunch together at the Civic Club, and they run into Will and Georgia on a date. Afterward, Will reprimands her for this because Claude runs a rival publication. Jessie, once again, breaks off her affair with Will.

A week later, Will asks Jessie to review Georgia’s new book, and this inspires Jessie to write a poem about her relationship with Will. Six weeks later, Will chastises Jessie for publishing a positive review of Claude’s latest book. After threatening her job, Will travels to the third Pan-African Congress. Jessie wants to become full editor of The Crisis since she is already doing all the work while Will constantly travels. She arranges to “accidentally” run into NAACP board members, such as Moorfield Storey and Joel Spingarn.

When Will returns from the Congress, he asks Jessie to go to dinner with him. She confronts him about his affair with Georgia, and he convinces Jessie to sleep with him again. Meanwhile, Charlotte tries to control what Langston writes, and Jessie assures him that he should write what he wants. Will and Jessie travel to Washington, DC, after she is invited to speak at the high school where she used to teach. In DC, Will abandons Jessie to see Georgia, who lives there. This gives Jessie time to work on her novel.

Jessie holds a literary salon, and Countee brings Gwendolyn Bennett to it. Georgia also attends, and Jessie privately confronts Georgia about Will. Georgia suggests that Jessie find her role in Will’s life. After completing her novel, Jessie sends it to publishers and receives many rejection letters. Eventually, Boni & Liveright agree to publish her novel. They also published Jean’s novel Cane. Jessie gifts her stepmother a copy of her novel and tells her that it will be published soon.

Will and Jessie attend the opening of Club Alabam, where Fletcher Henderson leads his band. Will shows Jessie a complimentary article that he wrote about her and her mentees, as well as a complimentary review of her book by Alain Locke. They discuss the closure of Black Swan Records with Fletcher before he starts to play.

Charles Johnson, of the Urban League, organizes a celebration for Jessie’s book, hosted by Alain. However, rather than focusing on her, it transforms into a celebration of all the writers she has worked with. Three months later, Joel offers to fund a literary contest for The Crisis. Will suggests that rather than announce it right away, they should hint at it to create interest. Jessie does this, and Charles’s competing publication, Opportunity, announces its own literary contest first. Will blames Jessie for this until she secures more funds for the contest and reorganizes it. This conflict causes her to accept an offer to study at the Sorbonne for six months. She successfully edits The Crisis remotely.

When Jessie returns to Harlem, Will tries to take her on a date, but she refuses. He leaves on another trip, and when he returns, he gets upset that Jessie is attending the celebration for the Opportunity’s literary contest. She is excited to see Countee and Langston win prizes, and she meets other writers, such as Zora Neale Hurston. At the end of the event, everyone gets on stage for a picture, and Langston asks Jessie to join them as the “midwife” of their literary movement. This inspires Jessie to resign from The Crisis and tell Will that she won’t be sleeping with him again. Jessie writes to Joel, hoping to get an entry-level position at the publication where he works.

The novel ends with Jessie leaving her brownstone and thinking about how the poets she mentored have added to the music of Harlem.