This has the makings of a book that could be a favorite for me- I love historical fiction, and the Harlem Renaissance is my favorite setting and time period within the genre. While the setting, story concept and real-life characters of Harlem Rhapsody are 5 stars, for me the  execution was more like 3 stars. The actual writing just wasn’t super compelling to me. But the true stories are!

So, I have to emphasize how glad I am that this book introduced me to Jessie Fauset and inspired me to learn more about her.  She’s like the Berry Gordy of the literary world during the Harlem Renaissance! This novel is heavily centered on her relationship with W.E.B. DuBois, and I wanted to go beyond that. I found myself racing through the book simply because I wanted to go find additional sources to learn more about her career and writing. 

I understand that her affair with DuBois really happened, and that people are complicated, but the almost incessant focus on this just didn't do anything for me.

And since we're taking the liberty to color in fiction the lines of real life, did almost every meeting about great literary work and every accomplishment Jessie reached have to conclude with "Will's" invitation to a hotel room? Not really.

I found the constant use of specific days/dates unnecessary - Sunday, December 1, 1920, then Monday, December 2, 1920, vs just saying December 1920. It feels like a small thing to note, but this was the start of every chapter, and I started thinking the detailed timeline was really going to mean something, but it didn't- and on top of that, Victoria Christopher Murray was altering the real-life timeline anyway.

The literary icons who appear in this book, such as Nella Larsen and Langston Hughes, were a true delight especially as they are at the very beginning of their careers and dreaming of the success that we now know they went on to achieve. All of those scenes made me sit up a little straighter in my seat. Like Hughes sharing his idea for Not Without Laughter, a book I love and now want to reread. 

So… I love where this book took me, but I didn’t actually love the book on its own.

It's also worth noting that it’s extremely similar in tone, style and themes to The Personal Librarian, so I expect many readers who liked that, to enjoy this overall. Thinking of both books, I do appreciate Murray's efforts to highlight real Black women in history that deserve to be more well known. 

Ratings
Story Concept 5/5
Quality of Writing 3/5
Pacing 3/5
Plot Development 3/5
Character Development 4/5
Overall Enjoyability 3.5/5