Harlem Rhapsody Summary, Characters and Themes

Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical novel that reclaims the life and legacy of Jessie Redmon Fauset—an unsung pioneer of the Harlem Renaissance.

Set in the early 20th century, the novel blends fact and fiction to illuminate Jessie’s journey as a groundbreaking editor, writer, and intellectual. As the literary editor of The Crisis, the NAACP’s influential magazine, Jessie becomes a powerful cultural force, nurturing rising Black voices while confronting sexism, racism, and the emotional cost of her affair with W.E.B. Du Bois. Through Jessie’s lens, the novel paints a stirring portrait of Black artistic awakening and personal emancipation.

Summary

Harlem Rhapsody follows the life of Jessie Redmon Fauset from her 1919 arrival in Harlem through her pivotal role in shaping the Harlem Renaissance.

The novel opens as Jessie leaves Washington, D.C. with her stepmother Bella and sister Helen, moving into a Harlem brownstone provided by W.E.B. Du Bois—her mentor and secret lover.

Jessie has just been appointed literary editor of The Crisis, the NAACP’s leading publication.

She steps into a vibrant, complicated world where she must manage editorial duties, navigate internal politics, and cultivate the burgeoning Black arts scene.

At The Crisis, Jessie finds both admiration and opposition.

While some colleagues embrace her energy and intellect, Mary White Ovington, one of the organization’s founders, views her assertiveness with suspicion.

Jessie’s early days are filled with long hours and literary ambition.

She’s encouraged by Du Bois to write her own novel, yet emotionally entangled with him in ways that both inspire and hinder her.

Outside the office, Harlem dazzles.

Parties, salons, and literary gatherings offer Jessie new friendships and professional connections.

She meets future luminaries like James Weldon Johnson, Nella Larsen, and Langston Hughes.

Jessie begins mentoring young writers and curating The Crisis’s literary vision, all while helping Du Bois launch The Brownies’ Book, a magazine for Black children.

Yet her private life is fraught.

Du Bois is married, and his wife Nina and daughter Yolande soon arrive in Harlem, making secrecy even harder.

Jessie wrestles with guilt, longing, and the moral ambiguity of loving a man she cannot claim.

Her sister Helen acts as her conscience, urging her to prioritize her future and sense of self.

As the Harlem Renaissance ignites, Jessie becomes a central figure.

She pushes The Crisis to publish daring, authentic Black voices—sometimes clashing with conservative colleagues.

She champions new perspectives, especially those of Black women.

She helps establish Harlem as the intellectual and artistic epicenter of Black America.

However, her growing visibility draws criticism.

Some within the NAACP resist her influence, and Jessie faces subtle racism and overt sexism from both Black and white peers.

Still, she persists.

She is driven by a deep belief in the transformative power of literature and the need for honest representation.

Jessie’s personal breaking point comes when her affair with Du Bois becomes unsustainable.

A painful encounter with Nina forces Jessie to reevaluate everything.

Ultimately, she ends the relationship, choosing dignity and creative freedom over emotional dependence.

This decision marks a turning point: she finally commits fully to her writing.

In the final chapters, Jessie completes her novel—a symbolic act of reclaiming her own voice.

While heartache and regret linger, her legacy takes shape in other ways.

She becomes a mentor to a new generation of writers and an icon in Harlem’s cultural movement.

Her work with The Crisis and The Brownies’ Book ensures the stories of Black children, women, and thinkers are not only preserved but celebrated.

The novel concludes with Jessie standing tall—no longer defined by her relationship with Du Bois, but by her courage, intellect, and cultural impact.

She is portrayed as both a witness to history and an architect of it.

She turned personal sacrifice into literary and social progress.

Through Harlem Rhapsody, Murray restores Jessie Redmon Fauset’s rightful place in American letters.

She is seen as a trailblazer who helped script a new vision of Black identity, creativity, and resilience.

Characters

Jessie Redmon Fauset

Jessie is an intelligent, driven, and conflicted character. She arrives in Harlem with a clear vision for her future but soon finds herself ensnared in a web of personal and professional struggles.

Jessie is introduced as an ambitious woman keen on making her mark in the literary world through her role as the literary editor of The Crisis, the flagship magazine of the NAACP. Despite her professional success, Jessie’s personal life is rife with complications, particularly her affair with W.E.B. Du Bois.

This relationship, filled with emotional tension, serves as a central conflict in her life. Jessie constantly grapples with her feelings for Du Bois, torn between her intellectual admiration for him and the moral compromises she makes in maintaining their secret relationship.

As the story unfolds, Jessie grows in strength, recognizing that she must prioritize her own identity and legacy over romantic entanglements. Her journey is one of self-discovery, as she learns to channel her emotional energy into her writing and mentorship of young Black artists, particularly women.

This marks her growth from lover and editor to a determined author and cultural leader.

W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois is a towering figure in the novel, both intellectually and emotionally. As Jessie’s mentor and lover, Du Bois embodies the intellectual rigor and complexity of the Harlem Renaissance.

He is portrayed as a man of great influence, with his work at the NAACP shaping the narrative of Black intellectual thought during this era. However, Du Bois’s personal life is filled with contradictions.

He is married to Nina Du Bois, but his affair with Jessie complicates his relationships, especially as Jessie becomes more emotionally invested. His duality—both revered as a leader and criticized for his personal choices—creates tension in the novel.

Du Bois is a symbol of the Harlem Renaissance’s intellectual elite, but his relationship with Jessie reflects the personal sacrifices and ethical compromises that often accompany the pursuit of power and influence.

Mary White Ovington

Mary White Ovington, one of the co-founders of the NAACP, represents the more traditional, white establishment view within the context of the Harlem Renaissance. While she admires Jessie’s intellect, she often challenges her editorial choices and the direction Jessie wants to take with The Crisis.

Ovington’s resistance to Jessie’s assertiveness creates friction within the organization, symbolizing the tension between old guard racial politics and the newer, more radical voices emerging from Harlem. Her relationship with Jessie is one of underlying competition, where Ovington’s traditional values and Jessie’s modern, forward-thinking approach come into conflict.

This tension underscores one of the key themes of the novel: the generational divide in the fight for racial equality.

Helen Fauset

Helen, Jessie’s sister, serves as a voice of concern and caution throughout the novel. While Jessie is swept up in her intellectual and romantic pursuits, Helen often serves as her emotional anchor.

Helen warns her about the potential heartbreak of her relationship with Du Bois and urges her to focus on her writing and career. Helen represents the pragmatic side of Jessie’s life, offering a grounded perspective amidst the whirlwind of Harlem’s cultural and intellectual scene.

Her advice is often overlooked by Jessie, who is deeply invested in her personal entanglements, but Helen’s wisdom becomes more apparent as the novel progresses.

Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen

Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen are both significant figures in the Harlem Renaissance, and their presence in the novel highlights the generational shift in Black literary culture. Jessie becomes a mentor to these emerging writers, helping to shape their voices and encourage their contributions to the cultural landscape.

Hughes, in particular, represents the new voice of Black artists, unafraid to push boundaries and reflect the lived experiences of Black people in America. Jessie’s role as a mentor allows her to leave a lasting impact on the next wave of Black writers, further solidifying her place in history as both a literary editor and cultural leader.

Nina Du Bois

Nina, Du Bois’s wife, is a character whose presence looms large over Jessie’s relationship with Du Bois. Though she remains largely in the background, her existence forces Jessie to confront the reality of her emotional and moral compromises.

Nina represents the domestic life that Du Bois is unwilling to let go of, even as he maintains his affair with Jessie. Her role in the novel serves as a painful reminder of the limitations of Jessie’s relationship with Du Bois and the toll it takes on her self-esteem and emotional well-being.

Themes

The Struggle for Identity and Self-Expression

One of the central themes in Harlem Rhapsody is the struggle for identity and self-expression. Jessie, a gifted writer, must navigate the intricacies of her role as a literary editor at The Crisis while also contending with the internal conflict of her emotional and professional life.

The theme of self-expression is particularly significant as Jessie pushes for the voices of Black writers to be heard, all while grappling with her own unfulfilled literary ambitions. Throughout the novel, Jessie is torn between fulfilling the needs of the intellectual and literary community and exploring her own personal voice through writing.

Her inner turmoil over her unspoken desires, coupled with her responsibility to elevate the voices of Black writers, serves as a metaphor for the larger societal struggle for representation during the Harlem Renaissance.

Love, Sacrifice, and Heartbreak

Jessie’s complicated and tumultuous relationship with W.E.B. Du Bois highlights the theme of love and sacrifice. Their affair is emotionally intense, yet it is marred by Du Bois’s marriage and his complex role as both a mentor and lover.

As Jessie becomes more involved with the Harlem literary scene, she also faces the emotional toll of loving a man she can never fully have. The theme of sacrifice is also explored as Jessie makes personal compromises for the sake of her career, her legacy, and the cause of Black literature.

The heartbreak she endures in these relationships, especially the final separation from Du Bois, acts as a poignant reminder of the personal costs often associated with the pursuit of one’s ambitions and desires.

Racial and Gender Politics

The novel delves into the racial and gender dynamics of early 20th-century America, particularly within the context of the Harlem Renaissance. Jessie not only faces challenges as a Black woman in a predominantly white intellectual world, but she also contends with subtle forms of sexism and racism that threaten to undermine her professional accomplishments.

Her experiences with Mary White Ovington and other members of the NAACP illustrate the tensions between traditionalism and progressive ideals, with Jessie’s editorial vision often clashing with more conservative forces.

Moreover, her position as a woman in a male-dominated literary space showcases the intersections of race and gender in shaping the social and political landscape.

Cultural Renaissance and Legacy

The Harlem Renaissance, with its explosion of Black cultural production, is a backdrop to Jessie’s own growth and development. As an editor at The Crisis, Jessie plays a pivotal role in shaping the cultural narrative of the era, guiding and mentoring emerging Black writers and artists like Langston Hughes and Nella Larsen.

The theme of legacy is explored through Jessie’s dedication to her work and her determination to leave behind a lasting impact on Black literature and culture.

The novel presents Jessie not merely as a passive participant but as an active architect of the Black cultural renaissance, whose contributions helped define an era of creative and intellectual flourishing.

Empowerment and Resistance

Empowerment and resistance are key themes woven throughout the story, both on a personal and societal level. Jessie’s editorial work at The Crisis is a form of resistance against the cultural erasure of Black voices in mainstream literature.

Her efforts to bring bold, unflinching works to the forefront challenge societal norms and create a space for Black writers to be seen and heard. At the same time, Jessie’s own growth as a writer and a cultural leader is an act of empowerment.

As she gradually shifts from being a dependent figure in a complicated relationship with Du Bois to a self-sufficient, independent woman focused on her craft and her legacy, this shift in Jessie’s personal journey mirrors the larger historical movement of Black empowerment.

This was central to the Harlem Renaissance, as it represented a collective struggle and triumph.