Dark, funny and furiously entertaining, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist.
Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and the micro-aggressions, she’s thrilled when Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They’ve only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events cause Nella to become Public Enemy Number One and Hazel, the Office Darling.
Then the notes begin to appear on Nella’s desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It’s hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realises that there is a lot more at stake than her career.
American author Zakiya Dalila Harris has written an astonishing debut novel that examines race and privilege in the workplace—in this case, the white-dominated book publishing industry. Harris herself worked at a New York publishing house for three years before quitting her job to write this book. Harris’ representation of Wagner Books, a prestigious fictional publishing house in New York City, is detailed, and readers are offered a unique insider’s perspective of the operations of a publishing house. Many of the things Nella experiences in the novel—from racial micro-aggressions to being one of few people of colour in the workplace—were challenges Harris encountered herself. This deeply personal take makes this novel all the more effective.
The Other Black Girl kept me in genuine suspense from start to end. Harris has imagined a plot which takes sinister and even supernatural twists, making it hard to pin this into any one genre. It isn’t a relaxing or straight-forward read either; the novel jumps between a few narrators and time periods and is at times tense. But the way it all comes together is extremely impressive for such a young debut writer. Harris’ razor-sharp commentary cuts right to the heart of racial tensions that have caused such division in the US recently. It’s an insightful, gripping read.
While Harris’ millennial voice is strong throughout The Other Black Girl, this is an eye-opening novel for readers of all ages. Filled with biting social commentary, workplace intrigue, and an important conversation about race, this is a brilliant debut from Zakiya Dalila Harris.
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