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 rumours of their tumultuous affair, Jessie is determined to prove herself. She attacks the challenge of discovering young writers with fervour, 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, theatre, 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.
