e-Audio, 15:05:26
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: January 13-17, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a copy of this e-ALC from the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review. I also received an ARC and finished copy from the publisher for free.)
Content Warning: Infidelity
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Romance, Historical Fiction, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Recommended, RequestedThe 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.
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 Crisis.
W.E.B. Du Bois, the founder and editor of The 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 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.
*MY THOUGHTS*
It took me quite a while to review this because 1 I read it in tandem with the ARC they sent me, and 2 because I was incredulous of the way that I am enamored with knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance, and I have never heard of Jessie Fauset. I was appalled that I knew so much about this time, but I never even wondered about some of the most basic things like who gathered all these things together. I guess I always thought it was W.E.B. DuBois. Which upsets me because…. Well…. just read the book and you’ll see how Jessie’s entire life was over-shadowed by a man.
This is part of the reason I struggled with this review. My immediate action was to shout about DuBois and WTF he was doing, but I didn’t want that to be IT, you know? Jessie spent too much of her life behind him and I thought that was enough. So, I decided I’ll talk about it, but I wanted to talk about Jessie first. I LOVED her character. I love seeing strong, smart Black women flourishing in the things they do and love. And even in the times that people looked down on her, she knew what she wanted and kept at it. Even with everything against her. Her literary taste was impeccable and I can’t fathom the way she was able to seek out, find, and even edit the poets that she did. She was such a light and I can’t imagine if she had never made the trip to Harlem because of DuBois. I don’t know if I will ever be able to say enough thanks to Victoria Christopher Murray for teaching me about Jessie. Because the way they hid her, I don’t think I ever would have found out about her. She is truly an unsung hero of this time. And she deserves so much more.
The romance part of this was terrible tho lol I was so angry at her for not giving herself more credit. I kept hearing Kelly Price’s mom from her video in my ear every time they were alone together… “God is not going to give you somebody else’s husband.” She deserved so much more than being what she was to him. I hated that she didn’t know that she did. She let herself be overshadowed by all that he kept going through. And I didn’t feel like he deserved that. And I mean that lol I don’t know what she saw in him. And I was annoyed because I thought so highly of him lol I had no idea he was out here doing this. It changed my whole view of him, but I can still recognize who he was an intellectual. He was so smart and his literary taste was also amazing. There’s no other way they could have found all the poets and writers that they did. They made a good team. I just hated the TYPE of team they made. And I think what makes me the most mad about this is the fact that everyone knew but she still believed it. Ugh she could have done so much better.
My favorite thing about those tho was the history I learned from this book. When I tell you I underlined almost every line in this book! From people I had never heard of, to books I added to my TBR, to speeches/articles I looked up later. I wanted to know it all. The funniest part of this tho was the way I thought I was going to annotate this like regular. Baby I would have run out of the tabs I was using lol And then y’all know I usually put the stuff I Google in my Reading Journal, but this time I knew I couldn’t because I would have run out of room lol This book had so much info that I am so glad I opened myself up to. I don’t think I would have ever read this if I didn’t know it was about the Harlem Renaissance. I’m not a poet or writer, but being a reader really makes me even more impressed with what Fauset did. Because reading and recognizing the greats that she did?! Wow.
I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction, (unless it’s Black) but this time I was INTO it. Why? The writing style. I had never read this author before so I didn’t know what to expect, but the way she presented the facts and the way she paid attention to even the smallest detail was mind blowing to me. I know since this is historical fiction a lot of the ground work was done for her, but it was pretty cool that I couldn’t actually pick out what happened and what didn’t before I got to the end. Like that party she threw “them.” I was appalled and just knew that didn’t happen. But in some ways it did. I loved the way Murray gave it her own artist twist. I love this and I can’t wait to see more people talk about it!
This was so much fun to read. I can’t say thank you enough to Berkley for an ARC of this title. I enjoyed learning about her so much. I can’t wait for more people to learn about her too. I hope we can spread the word of her and get people to know HER, just not her struggle that she went through with DuBois.
Overall, I give this
