A Harlem Wedding, Tiffany L. Warren (Review by Stacey Lorenson)

Rating: 4.0/5 Stars

Tiffany L. Warren, author of The Unexpected Diva, has created a captivating story of black wealth, ambition, and romance, that revolves around social lite\educator Yolande Du Bois, her father NAACP icon, W.E.B. Du Bois, Jimmie Lunceford, a jazz prodigy, and Countee Culleen a famed poet.

A Harlem Wedding takes place in 1920s Harlem, New York, chronicling the life of Du Bois’s daughter Yolande Nina Du Bois, under the constant scrutiny of her domineering father. Her father’s notoriety made Yolande’s charmed life a constant battle of wills. Yolande resisted W.E.B.’s interference in her romantic life. Her father insisted she marry someone that met his approval, as the continuation of his legacy was more important than her wishes for true love. Readers are invited into Yolande’s courageous journey to stand up to her father and unlock her path to self-love and happiness.

Her father’s activism for the advancement of African Americans, national speaking tours, and founding The Crisis (1910), the official magazine of the NAACP, demanded much of his attention. The rest of this time was devoted to micromanaging his daughter’s marriage prospects, education, and social appearances. Yolanda spends half her life yielding to her father’s expectations.

Warren’s novel is impeccably researched, based on actual events, and prominent historical individuals. A Harlem Wedding examines the African American wealthy elite social constructs, black excellence, the Talented Tenth, Harlem’s scintillating social scene, escapism international travel offered black Americans, and college life in Nashville, Tennessee. This was a fascinating story illuminating memorable, driven characters in a setting that allowed hope and possibilities to bloom beyond the impediments of segregation, making A Harlem Wedding an excellent book club pick!