There Is Confusion

"An important book." — The New York Times

Set in Philadelphia and New York a century ago, this novel by a luminary of the Harlem Renaissance traces the hopes and dreams of three young African-Americans as they search for love, financial security, and success: Joanna, prepared to sacrifice romance on the altar of ambition; Maggie, eager to escape her blue-collar background by marrying well; and Peter, an aspiring doctor motivated by his love for Joanna. Published to critical acclaim in 1924, the story offers a moving examination of the struggles against prejudice and discrimination by members of the black middle class during a tumultuous era.


Jessie Redmon Fauset (1882–1961) was the author of four novels as well as many stories, poems, and reviews. From 1919 to 1926 she was the literary editor of the NAACP's magazine, The Crisis, in which she published and promoted the work of such major writers as Jean Toomer, George Schuyler, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay. This new edition of There Is Confusion revives her unjustly overlooked voice.