Harlem Rhapsody

Jessie holds a literary salon at her house. Countee arrives with Gwendolyn Bennett, who admires Jessie. Georgia arrives next and ends up chatting with Maman, who doesn’t know about Georgia and Will’s affair. James and Grace are the next to enter the house, followed by Walter and Gladys White. Jessie is thrilled when Nella arrives. Nella chats with Georgia, curious about her affair with Will, as Langston arrives. He says that Charlotte is out of town. Langston chats with Countee and Gwendolyn about his novel. Walter and James discuss Birthright, as well as Walter’s new novel, with Jessie. Mary-Helen joins Langston, and Jessie talks with them next about Eugene O’Neill’s new play.

When Jessie goes into the kitchen to get out the food, Georgia follows her. Georgia admits that Nella has been interrogating her. Jessie says that Nella is just curious and then talks about visiting DC. Georgia knows about Jessie’s talk at the high school but won’t admit that she was with Will while Jessie spoke. Jessie asks whether Georgia is still involved with Will, and Georgia says that she can’t answer that, claiming that Jessie wouldn’t answer if the tables were reversed. Georgia says that everyone has different roles in Will’s life and that Jessie should figure out hers. Georgia hopes that this conversation means they can be friends.

When Jessie returns to the party, they discuss Countee’s contest submission, Countee and Gwendolyn read poetry, Walter reads from his book, and Nella reads from hers. At the end of the night, Georgia thanks Jessie. Jessie thinks about finding her “proper role with Will” (301). She realizes that this will mean eventually ending their affair.

Jessie is excited about her Christmas tree and reflects on the events of the previous months. Countee won second place in the Witter Bynner contest, Jean’s novel Cane was published, and Langston published many poems and stories. Jessie published a poem of Gwendolyn’s in The Crisis and finished her own novel. She sent it out to publishers but received many rejection letters claiming that a college-educated Black character is not realistic. However, Horace Liveright, of the publishing company Boni & Liveright, contacted Jessie near Thanksgiving to arrange for a meeting.

Mr. Liveright and Jessie met at the Civic Club. He asked about her life, and she told him about her education, career, and family. They discussed Jean’s unwillingness to be referred to as a Black writer. Mr. Liveright believed that people knowing that Cane was written by a Black man would have helped sales. Jessie insisted that it is an important book, regardless of who wrote it. Mr. Liveright explained that he makes an effort to publish work by marginalized people, such as Jewish writers. Jessie said that she was proud to identify as a Black woman, and Mr. Liveright said that he wanted to publish her book.

In the present moment, Maman and Jessie talk about their holiday decorations. Maman encourages Jessie to accept an offer to study at the Sorbonne for six months. Jessie argues that she can’t leave The Crisis for that long and admits that Maman was correct to condemn Jessie and Will’s affair. Maman recognizes that Will filled in for Jessie’s father in many ways and helped her career. Then, Jessie insists that Maman open one of her presents early. It is a copy of There Is Confusion. Maman says that Jessie’s father would have been proud. The title comes from “The Lotos-Eaters,” a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that Maman introduced Jessie to. Maman insists that they send the book out to publishers, and Jessie shares that Boni & Liveright has already agreed to publish it.

Will and Jessie enter Club Alabam, and Will asks the maître d’ to inform Fletcher Henderson that Will wants to speak with him. They are at the club for its grand opening, but they have arrived before everyone else. Will says that he wanted to speak with Jessie privately. He pulls out the latest issue of The Crisis, which Jessie hasn’t seen yet. Without her knowing, Will added a complimentary article of his about the new generation of Black writers, including Langston, Jean, Countee, Gwendolyn, and Jessie. Alain Locke also contributed a review of There Is Confusion, which Jessie reads for the first time at the club. She is pleasantly stunned, and they briefly hold hands.

When Fletcher greets them, they stop holding hands. He is the head of the club’s new house band, and the three discuss how Black Swan Records had to close down. Fletcher is trying to get Louis Armstrong to join his band. About a half hour later, the band starts to play. Will and Jessie stay for two songs and then leave to celebrate more privately.

When she is in her office the next day, Jessie gets a call from Charles S. Johnson, who works for the Urban League. He compliments her novel and says that she is at the “center of a movement” with not only her work but also her mentorship of other writers (315). Then, Charles says that he wants to host a party celebrating the release of Jessie’s book. She is overjoyed and agrees to attend the event.

Over the past few weeks, Jessie’s book has received many rave reviews. Charles’s event has grown to include more guests and more food. In the present moment, Jessie arrives at the event, which is being held at the Civic Club. She notices many familiar Black writers, such as Langston, Nella, and Countee, as well as white writers such as Eugene O’Neill. She isn’t sure if Will is coming, as he has been traveling. Charles greets Jessie and says that Alain will be the emcee for the evening and that other people will be saying a few words. Jessie thinks that they will be celebrating her book in their speeches. Miss Ovington talks to Jessie, mentioning her negative review of Jessie’s book. Jessie notes that the readers of The Crisis sent in letters arguing that Miss Ovington’s review was offensive to Black people. Jessie sits at a table with Mr. Liveright, Charles, James, Grace, Joel Spingarn, and others.

Reverend Cullen gets up and blesses their meal. As it is served, people at Jessie’s table praise her book, quoting positive reviews. Eventually, Charles takes the stage and introduces Alain. He introduces Will, who initially praises Jessie’s novel and then praises other Black writers in the scene. Next, James speaks, followed by many others who discuss the problems of the past and hopes for the future. Langston, Countee, Gwendolyn, and Walter read their poetry.

After 90 minutes, Jessie is the last to speak. She is upset because she thought her novel was going to be the focus of the event. However, she briefly discusses her dream of being a writer and her gratitude for the positive reviews she’s received, and she thanks her publisher for their support. Jessie wants to say more, but everyone looks tired from the long procession of speeches, so she exits the stage quickly after thanking her mentees. The audience gives her a standing ovation.

Back at her table, Will says that he is proud of her, and others praise her. Paul Kellogg says that he will cover this event in his magazine, Survey Graphic, calling it the beginning of the “New Negro Movement” (326). He invites Jessie and Alain to contribute an article on this topic. Jessie leaves unnoticed shortly after this.

The day after the event, Jessie took a train to Philadelphia and met her brother Arthur at their family home. He hugged her and asked why she had come to see him. She told him how the plans for the event changed dramatically and how it upset her. Arthur said that Charles and Alain didn’t mean to hijack the evening. He continued, saying that Jessie shouldn’t be upset because the event was amazing, despite changing its focus. He iterated that all the writers needed to be celebrated, not just Jessie.

In the present moment, Joel Spingarn meets with Jessie and Will at the NAACP offices. Joel wants to sponsor a literary contest at The Crisis to find new talent, and he offers to donate $300 in prize money. Will says that he doesn’t want the contest to overshadow the Spingarn Medal, and Joel says that they won’t interfere with one another.

After Joel leaves, Will expresses his uncertainty about the contest. He thinks that they should be spending time and energy on fighting against lynchings and discrimination. Jessie says that they still need to celebrate writers while they are doing this social justice work. She thinks that a contest will set them apart from their competition: Charles Johnson’s Opportunity magazine. Will is upset that Charles is publishing the same poets as The Crisis. Jessie argues that it is good for the poets to be featured in a variety of magazines. Will agrees to go forward with the contest, telling Jessie to wait to make an official announcement. Over the next few months, he says, they should only hint at the contest.

Maman tells Jessie that she must go and study at the Sorbonne. Jessie, tired of having this discussion, again reiterates that she has to stay in New York to run The Crisis. Maman suggests that other people take up the slack while Jessie is away, but Jessie says that no one else can do her job. Mary-Helen arrives at the brownstone and asks Jessie about the Opportunity announcing a literary contest. This is the first time Jessie has heard about it, which shocks Mary-Helen. Jessie rushes to the office, where her copy of the Opportunity with the announcement was delivered.

She discovers that the contest at Opportunity is for $500 and feels like Charles stole her idea. Jessie gives the announcement to Will to read. He asks if she has been talking about the contest, and she says that she has been creating buzz about it, just as he asked. He says that she should have made an official announcement earlier. She mentions that he is the one who didn’t want to make the announcement earlier. Will says that she should have known to change their strategy and make the announcement. He blames her for not figuring out that Charles was going to hold a contest, saying that he would have changed their plan if he had been in town.

Jessie suggests that they hold the contest later than originally planned and increase the prize money. She offers to be the one to ask Joel Spingarn for more funds. Will reluctantly agrees and says that he is cancelling their dinner plans for the evening so that Jessie has time to correct her mistake. She works for 10 hours straight.

When Will comes into her office, she shows him the new contest announcement and says that Joel has agreed to increase the prize money. Will compliments her work and thanks her. When he invites her to dinner, she refuses and tells him that she will be going to study at the Sorbonne. He backtracks, saying that the Opportunity’s contest appropriation was not her fault and that he was wrong to say that it was. Jessie ignores him and continues explaining how she will work on The Crisis while in Paris. He asks her to stay in New York, but she refuses. She hopes that distance will help her get over Will.

Nella and Jessie talk about her travels to Paris, Nice, Marseille, and Rome. Jessie says that it was colder and grayer than the last time she visited, but she improved her French and felt free while there. She describes the cafes she wrote in and the famous people she saw, like Josephine Baker and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Jessie also admits to drinking alcohol in the Parisian clubs. Meanwhile, in the US, Jessie’s novel becomes so popular that it goes through three editions in less than a year.

Eventually, the conversation turns to a widely publicized divorce case known as Rhinelander v. Rhinelander, in which wealthy socialite Leonard Rhinelander sought to annul his recent marriage to Alice Jones after the press discovered that she had Black ancestry. Nella is interested in this story of a woman who passed as white because she wants to write a novel called Passing after she finishes Quicksand. She asks Jessie whether There Is Confusion is autobiographical, pointing out similarities between its protagonist and Jessie. Jessie says that her protagonist chose love in the end, and Nella asks if that’s what Jessie wants. Jessie, thinking about how she isn’t over Will, says that her trip has made her certain that she wants to be the editor of The Crisis. Nella says that Jessie isn’t like her protagonist after all. Jessie feels guilty for not being able to be truthful about her issues with Will.

Later that night, Jessie goes into the office, where she finds Will, whom she has been trying to avoid. He explains that Yolande was sick, which delayed his planned trip to Africa. Will tells Jessie that he missed her and that she did an excellent job working on The Crisis from overseas. When he invites her to dinner, Jessie turns him down.

Jessie enjoys getting back into her regular routine at The Crisis while Will is away. When he returns, he praises Jessie and Augustus for increasing the magazine’s subscriptions. Augustus says that Jessie has become a celebrity along with her mentees. After Augustus leaves, Will says that Jessie did an excellent job with the contest and invites her to dinner. Jessie says that she is going to the dinner where the winners of the Opportunity’s contest will be announced. Will is upset that she is attending, and she explains that she is going to support Langston and Countee, who are the finalists. Will tries to convince her not to go, but she refuses to change her mind.

At the Opportunity’s dinner, Jessie sees many famous writers, as well as her mentees: Langston, Countee, and Jean. Jean compliments her book and compares its commercial success to the poor sales of his own. She says that he paved the way for her by being published first. Then, Jessie speaks with Charles. He knows about the dinner she is planning for The Crisis’s contest and says that there is room for more than one contest. She agrees and then leaves him to talk with other attendees, such as Zora Neale Hurston. People compliment her work on The Crisis, calling her the “queen of that magazine” (355).

Charles takes the stage and says that the winners will be announced after the guests eat. During dinner, Zora tells Jessie all about her life. After they finish, Langston wins first place for his poem “The Weary Blues.” Second place goes to Countee for his poem “The One Who Said Me Nay.” They tie for third place in poetry, and prizes are given out to writers of other genres. After a couple hours, Charles asks all the Black writers, including those who didn’t submit to the contest, to come on stage for a photograph. Jessie looks at her mentees and marvels at how much they’ve grown. Before the picture is taken, Langston demands that Jessie join them on stage, in the center, because she is “a literary midwife” to all of them (359). Charles agrees, and Jessie is part of the picture. She remembers Will saying that The Crisis was something he birthed by himself, and she decides to change her life.

Jessie meets Will at the Hotel Olga. She tells him that Langston and Countee won the contest, and he apologizes for the way he spoke to her about attending the dinner. She repeats his phrase about birthing The Crisis alone and acknowledges that he felt like her actions were attacking his baby. Then, she clarifies that she went to the dinner to support her babies—her mentees. He touches her cheek, and she pulls away, offering instead her letter of resignation from The Crisis. Will says that he will not accept it. Jessie says that she has a new dream because there is no way for her to advance at The Crisis. She will only have what Will gives her there.

Instead, Jessie wants to work at a white publishing company and hopefully become an editor. She also wants to spend more time working on her own writing. Will is surprised when Jessie says that she’s leaving the brownstone and shocked that she is ending things with him. He asks her to reconsider, she thanks him for the opportunity, and she tells him goodbye. Before she leaves, she kisses Will passionately and affirms that things would have been different in another time and place. As she walks out of the hotel room, she decides that she has found her proper role with Will.

Maman leaves the brownstone after telling Jessie that she is proud of her. Jessie writes a letter to Joel Spingarn, asking for his help in obtaining a job at Harcourt, Brace & Company, where he works. She offers to be a proofreader, which is an entry-level position. Nina arrives, which surprises Jessie. Nina confronts Jessie about Will, saying that she knew about the affair, as well as Will’s other affairs. However, Jessie was more important to Will than all the other women. Jessie assures Nina that she never wanted Will to leave his marriage, and Nina notes that she overheard Jessie saying that to Maman. Will has been lost since Jessie ended the affair, Nina says. Then, Nina compliments Jessie’s work at the magazine, and as a mentor, and wishes her well.

After Nina leaves, a messenger arrives to pick up Jessie’s keys to the brownstone. She asks him to give her a few minutes. Jessie makes sure that she has everything and feels hopeful about her new life. She will always love the music of Harlem, including its poetry.