The Harlem renaissance, from the 1910s to the end of the 1930s, was the epicentre of black artistic and intellectual life in the US. An explosion of literature, music, theatre and visual arts helped to shape a new African-American identity.
Shuffle Along, one of the first all-black Broadway musicals, ran for an unprecedented 504 performances and launched the career of Josephine Baker. Jazz legends like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith turned Harlem into the cultural heartbeat of the Jazz Age. Iconic venues such as the Cotton Club, Savoy Ballroom and Apollo Theater became the lively, electrifying backdrops for this creative revolution.
Beyond the arts, the Harlem renaissance also had a profound political influence. Thinkers like WEB Du Bois, through The Crisis magazine, pushed for discussions on racial equality and upliftment. Harlem became a hub of activism, hosting debates on segregation, voting rights, and economic empowerment — and laying the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.
Writers such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston and Claude McKay captured the complexities of black life, struggle, and joy. Among them was Jessie Redmon Fauset, the narrator of Victoria Christopher Murray’s latest novel, Harlem Rhapsody. Murray, an author with more than 30 novels to her name, is known for tackling themes of race and justice. Her book, Stand Your Ground, which examines the devastating impact of gun violence in America, won an NAACP Image Award in 2015.
In Harlem Rhapsody, Murray shifts her focus to historical fiction, bringing to light the life, work and passion of Fauset — a key yet often overlooked figure from this period. As a determined and talented literary editor at The Crisis, Fauset played a crucial role in the Harlem renaissance. The magazine, founded by Du Bois, advances civil rights and showcases black literary achievements. Fauset became a mentor to emerging writers like Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Nella Larsen, helping them refine their work and find a readership.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Harlem Rhapsody is its portrayal of Fauset’s relationship with Du Bois. Whether their connection was a love affair or a deeply complicated friendship is still debated in historical accounts. Murray, however, chooses the first possibility as the emotional core of her novel.
She expertly captures Fauset’s excitement when she arrives in New York with her “Maman”:
“I thrust open the taxicab’s door, and the moment my T-strap heels hit the pavement, a cacophony of city sounds welcomes me. The music enraptures me first. I can’t sleep at night ... I can’t eat a bite.... From a Victrola perched near an opened window, the lyrics from Harlem Blues float down, and then Mamie Smith’s contralto drifts into the breeze. The joyous sound of two giggling girls skipping past draws me from the song.
"‘You’re just bumping your gums,’ a man shouts, and uproarious laughter rises from the circle of men dawdling in front of the barbershop a few doors away. I stand, absorbing it all: the patter of a thousand footsteps of men and ladies and kiddies rushing past ... motorcars chugging and clanking and clicking behind me ... honking horns squealing into the air. ‘Cause the man I love ... he don’t treat me right’. It isn’t a cacophony, it’s a rhapsody, and my heart races to match its beat.”
A leading intellectual and co-founder of the NAACP, the often prickly Du Bois was already married when he met Fauset. He encouraged her move to Harlem, supported her career, and provided professional breaks. But he also imposed his own views on her personal life, even suggesting she should marry because she was “too talented to be single”.
One of the loveliest moments in this somewhat intense tale is when Fauset first meets with the charming, precocious 17-year-old Hughes. He has just written The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which includes the lines: “I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.”
At the same time, Fauset was a trailblazer in her own right, carving out a space for herself in a male-dominated literary world. Her personal and professional lives were deeply intertwined due to her complex, scandalous and often tumultuous relationship with Du Bois, whom she calls “Will” in the novel. Harlem Rhapsody, narrated by Fauset, introduces readers to her world in 1919, exploring her professional successes and also the personal sacrifices she made along the way. Remembered as one of the architects of the Harlem renaissance, particularly for her work with Du Bois and James Weldon Johnson, she was also a poet and novelist.
Historian David Levering Lewis described Fauset’s contributions as “probably unequalled”, noting that “there is no telling what she would have done had she been a man, given her first-rate mind and formidable efficiency at any task”.
Born in 1882 in New Jersey, Fauset was one of the first black women to graduate from Cornell University. She later studied at the Sorbonne in Paris before returning to the US to teach. It was Du Bois who invited her to join The Crisis, where she became a driving force behind the magazine’s literary output. Her role involved far more than editing — she actively sought out and encouraged black writers, helping them refine their work and find an audience. Fauset was acutely aware of the challenges black writers faced. Many publishers hesitated to take on black authors, and those who did often expected them to conform to racial stereotypes. She fought to create space for authentic black voices, making The Crisis one of the most important platforms for black literature of its time.
Commenting on the novel, Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage, said, “Only Victoria Christopher Murray could enhance the colour and intrigue of one of black America’s most vibrant and complicated eras. A page-turner and history lesson at once, Harlem Rhapsody reminds us that our stories are our generational wealth — this book and the real lives that inspired it.”
Despite her significant influence, Fauset never gained the same recognition as her male counterparts. Her own novels, including Plum Bun and There is Confusion, explored race, gender and identity, but did not receive the same attention as the works of the writers she championed.
Murray’s novel raises important questions about how history remembers key figures. While Hughes, Cullen and Du Bois have been widely celebrated, Fauset — who helped bring their work to the world — has largely been forgotten. Harlem Rhapsody reclaims her place in history and her role in shaping a cultural revolution.
“You’ve birthed most of us. It’s like you’re a literary midwife,” says Hughes to Fauset towards the end of the novel.
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