Jessie Redmon Fauset – författare

Jane Austen meets the Harlem Renaissance in this novel of three young, ambitious Black Americans striving for love and success in the big city. Set in 1920s New York City, There Is Confusion tells the story of three friends who grew up supporting one another’s dreams. But now that they are young adults, things are not so simple . . . First, there is Maggie Ellersley, who is eager to marry up and be free of her blue-collar background. Then, there is Peter Bye, an intelligent aspiring surgeon motivated by his love for Joanna Marshall. Joanna is a talented and driven dancer, who is about to make a decision that will change all their lives . . . Originally published in 1924, There Is Confusion received critical acclaim for its portrayal of middle-class Black America. Author Jessie Redmon Fauset served as literary editor of the NAACP’s official magazine, The Crisis, from 1919 to 1926 and fostered the careers of such Harlem Renaissance authors as Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Langston Hughes. “An important book.” —The New York Times

There Is Confusion (1924) is a novel by Jessie Redmon Fauset. Published to resounding acclaim from such critics as Alain Locke and Montgomery Gregory, There Is Confusion was largely forgotten by the 1930s as the Great Depression and the Second World War shifted national attention away from the writers and artists whose vision defined the Harlem Renaissance. Rediscovered by scholars in the late twentieth century, There Is Confusion is seen as a feminist masterpiece on par with the best of Jane Austen and Edith Wharton. Set in Philadelphia and Harlem, Fauset’s novel traces the lives of three African Americans from childhood to adulthood while situating their experience in the cultural shifts of the early twentieth century. Joanna Marshall is a dancer who longs for recognition. Maggie Ellersley is a beautiful girl who detests her working-class roots. Peter Bye is an ambitious student who hopes to become a surgeon. As they grow up together, their shared dreams are tarnished by romance and competition. As economic opportunity reshapes the African American community, the three friends must redefine their relationships and desires. Moving and plainspoken, There Is Confusion is a novel grounded in history that manages a delicate balance between the personal and the political without losing sight of the characters who live Fauset’s vision. This edition of Jessie Redmon Fauset’s There Is Confusion is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

Revisit the critically acclaimed sophomore novel of Crisis editor Jessie Redmon Fauset, Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1928).

After the death of their parents, the Murray family consists of just two people—Virginia, the younger darker-skinned teacher; and Angela, the elder fair-skinned artist—both Black, both women. While Virginia embraces her Blackness entirely; goes on to move to Harlem, teach Black children and marry a Black man, Angela outright rejects it—opting to move to New York, pass for white, and use her privilege to shatter the glass ceiling of her race.

But is it enough? While the act of passing gets her foot in the door; allows her the opportunity for artistic success and even leads to a romantic affair, as a woman there’s only so far she can go and only so much respect she can garner. If being a woman, even a white woman, limits the ways in which she is able to seek fulfilment in her life, what is the point in trying to pass at all?

Semi-autobiographical in nature, Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral is a coming-of-age novel that questions the intersectionality of race, class, and gender in the early twentieth century.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.