Auburn Afternoon Book Group @ Auburn

This month the Auburn Afternoon Book Group will read and discuss Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray.

About the Book:

In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all.

W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, 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. Amidst rumors of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervor, 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…every African American writer in the country wants their work published there.

When her first novel is released to great acclaim, it’s clear that Jessie is at the heart of a renaissance in Black music, theater, and the arts. She has shaped a generation of literary legends, but as she strives to preserve her legacy, she’ll discover the high cost of her unparalleled success.

The Auburn Afternoon Book Group primarily reads contemporary fiction but will occasionally include memoirs, classics and narrative nonfiction.

Free and open to the public. Space is limited. Registration is required. To register click the button below or contact the library for assistance. Copies of the book will be available to pick up at the Circulation Desk of the Auburn Branch Library.

Visit cranstonlibrary.org/book-groups to learn about other CPL book groups.