February Book Club w/ Three Avenues: Harlem Rhapsody

Join us as we discuss our February book club pick: Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray!

When: Sunday, February 22nd

What time: 5-6:30 pm

Where: Beermiscuous

We've got copies of Harlem Rhapsody in store, so come by anytime. To reserve your copy or have it shipped to you directly, place an order here.

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She found the literary voices that would inspire the world.... The extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance, written by Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Personal Librarian.

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.

Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, Misogyny

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, Gaslighting

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Slavery

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