Joy Goddess - by A'Lelia Bundles (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

FINALIST FOR THE ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD

"Raucously immersive...An intimate portrait of Black opulence in the early 20th century." --Oprah Daily

A "scintillating, vibrant" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and deeply researched biography of A'Lelia Walker--daughter of Madam C.J. Walker and herself a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance--written by her great-granddaughter.

Dubbed the "joy goddess of Harlem's 1920s" by poet Langston Hughes, A'Lelia Walker was a dazzling cultural icon whose legendary parties and Dark Tower salon helped define the Harlem cultural scene.

After inheriting her mother's pioneering hair care business, A'Lelia became America's first high-profile Black heiress and a patron of the arts. Joy Goddess takes readers inside her New York homes, where she hosted luminaries including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson, Florence Mills, James Weldon Johnson, Carl Van Vechten, and W.E.B. Du Bois--figures who shaped African American history and culture during the Roaring Twenties.

Drawing on extensive research and personal correspondence, A'Lelia Bundles presents a nuanced biography of a woman navigating life as a wife, mother, businesswoman, and patron outside the shadow of her famous mother's legacy.

With vivid detail, Joy Goddess brings to life A'Lelia's radiant personality, fashion-forward influence, and role as one of the most important cultural icons of Harlem, offering a fresh and unforgettable portrait of the woman who embodied the spirit of a new Black cultural era.

Review Quotes

"A'Lelia Bundles has brought A'Lelia Walker's singular personality to life so vividly that readers may feel as if they have their own private relationship with her. Bundles reminds us of the extraordinary sense of community and purpose our ancestors possessed. Would that we could re-ignite that determination and capacity to invent ourselves so ambitiously in the current climate."--Mary Schmidt Campbell, tenth president of Spelman College

"A'Lelia Bundles takes us on an exhilarating journey deeper into the life and times of her great grandmother; the legendary A'Lelia Walker, daughter of the incomparable Madam CJ Walker. A'Lelia's gift for weaving history, legend and a tale of resilience makes Joy Goddess a must read for anyone fascinated by the Afrostocracy of the Harlem Renaissance and the complexities of America's first black heiress. She mines the psychological and emotional impediments that saddled her namesake as she flourished and traversed through her life. Truly, 'uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.'"--Blair Underwood, Actor, Producer and Storyteller

"Bundle's voice is brisk and curious, nimbly leading readers through the relationships and historical currents that created the Harlem Renaissance...it makes for an engrossing history as readers are invited to luxuriate in the details of Walker's life."--Booklist

"From her humble beginnings in St. Louis to her reign as the doyenne of the Harlem Renaissance, Bundles's sparkling storytelling brings A'Lelia Walker out from the shadow cast by her mother, Madam CJ Walker. Bundles illuminates the life of one of the most fascinating women of the early twentieth century with the style and elegance worthy of the subject and adds an essential piece to the history of the Harlem Renaissance."--Dr. Tiffany M. Gill, author of Beauty Shop Politics

"In this meticulously researched, beautifully written book, A'Lelia Walker emerges from the shadows of the mythology that have long surrounded her. Her biographer, also her great-granddaughter and namesake, A'Leila Bundles is a gifted storyteller who has mined the archive with the astute skill of the best historians, and (like the award winning journalist she is) also has conducted in-depth interviews and reporting, to give us a compelling portrait of a complex, passionate, singular figure and the times she occupied. Walker not only lived through the Harlem Renaissance, she helped to shape it as muse and patron. Joy Goddess has much to teach us about that period and much to teach us about navigating our own. A stellar accomplishment."--Dr. Farah Jasmin Griffin, author of Read Until You Understand

"Joy Goddess is a remarkable biography. A'Lelia Bundles brings A'Lelia Walker's story to life with such grace, clarity, and beauty. By shedding new light on Walker's extraordinary life, Joy Goddess enriches our understanding of the complexities of race, gender, and class during the Harlem Renaissance."--Dr. Keisha N. Blain, co-editor of the #1 New York Times bestseller Four Hundred Souls

"Joy Goddess is a satisfying journey through family dynamics, cultural movements, and the complexities of being a public, known, celebrated Black women like A'Lelia Walker, who many saw, knew, and admired but, as this beautifully written, tightly told story makes clear, few understood. A'Lelia Bundles' biography is about one woman, but in the telling, becomes a startlingly engaging, vitally important story of an era that you will not want to put down."--Dr. Noliwe Rooks, author of Integrated: How American Schools Failed Black Children

"Lyrical. Engrossing. Rich in history. These are the descriptors that come to mind after reading A'Lelia Bundles' spectacular book, Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance. As a work of art as well as scholarship, this book is a rare find. It is both an historical page-turner as well as a deeply personal family story about women and race, work and money. With the instincts of novelist, Bundles takes us on a journey through the life of one of the most influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Joy Goddess is the untold story of Harlem that we have all been waiting for."--Emily Bernard, author of Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine

"Scintillating... Bundles depicts A'Lelia with admiration for her "diva-worthy flamboyance" and, thanks to the familial connection, unmatched intimacy. Joy Goddess brings vibrant life to a luminary described by Langston Hughes as the "joy goddess of Harlem.""--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This is a story of Black wealth and talent, and the universals of love, legacy, death, taxes, inadequacy, resilience, and hair--in other words, the things that belie Joy. The life of A'Lelia Walker, though a figure of extraordinary singularity, covers the map from New York to the Midwest to Tuskegee to Paris to Jerusalem and encompasses an equally wide expanse of human experience. The movie script practically writes itself!"--Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution

About the Author

A'Lelia Bundles is the author of New York Times Notable Book and bestseller On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker. A former ABC News Washington, DC, deputy bureau chief and an Emmy Award-winning producer, she participated in residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell while writing Joy Goddess. Visit her website at ALeliaBundles.com or on Instagram at @ALeliaBundles.