Welcome to Book Bar's official Historical Fiction Book Club. For September, the selected book is Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray (book description is located at the bottom of this listing).
So come out, grab a drink at our beverage bar, and join us for a lively book discussion! When you purchase this book club pick from us, your support will help us be here for a long time and put on more events! Purchasing options are below:
In Store: Stop by our location at 50 N. Railroad St. in Palmyra, PA!
Shipped: To purchase from Bookshop and get it delivered straight to your door, order from the following link (If you purchase here, we will receive a percentage of this sale):
https://bookshop.org/a/98905/9780593638484
Ebook: Bookshop now offers Ebooks for indie booksellers. Find it here (we will receive a percentage of this sale):
https://bookshop.org/a/98905/9780593638491
Audiobook: You can purchase audiobooks from us on Libro.fm. This audiobook can be easily found on our Sep 2025 Book Club Picks playlist here (we will receive a percentage of this sale):
https://libro.fm/playlists/9868?bookstore=bookbarus
We look forward to seeing you!
Book Description:
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.