Resident Book Review of “Harlem Rhapsody: A Novel”

Resident Eugenia High will review “Harlem Rhadsody: A Novel” by Victoria Christopher Murray. [New York: Berkley, 2025] on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 7 PM in the Auditorium. This is her review for the March 2026 issue of “The Sunburst.”

Harlem Rhapsody is the remarkable story of Jessie Redmon Fauset, one of the most prolific—and underappreciated—writers of the Harlem Renaissance. The book chronicles her years as literary editor of The Crisis magazine in the 1920s, and her long, turbulent relationship with NAACP founder and Crisis publisher, W.E.B. Du Bois.

Fauset published numerous essays and short stories, both at The Crisis and afterward, when she continued to write fiction and poetry. While at The Crisis, she played a seminal role in the launch of the NAACP children’s magazine, The Brownies’ Book. She also mentored Langston Hughes and many other young Black writers, including Countee Cullen and Nella Larsen, whom she introduced into the Harlem literary scene.

In addition to Jessie’s story, the book offers a lively depiction of the wider Harlem Renaissance. We see the challenges Jessie encountered as she forged her own place in this male-dominated literary and artistic sphere. Thanks to Langston Hughes, Jessie Redmon Fauset would become known as “the midwife of the Harlem Renaissance.”

Victoria Christopher Murray is a New York Times best-selling author who has written over 30 novels, including The Personal Librarian, The First Ladies, and Stand Your Ground.

Eugenia High has lived at Charlestown since 2015, when she retired from her career as a social worker. She graduated from Morgan State College and earned her MSW at Howard University School of Social Work. At Charlestown, she has been an active volunteer leader and participant in a broad array of community activities.