The Other Black Girl

By Zakiya Dalila Harris

Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is pretty tired of being the only Black girl at Wagner Book—so of course she's excited when Hazel May McCall starts working in the cubicle beside hers. Born and raised in Harlem, Hazel exudes the confidence and charm that Nella has never quite possessed. But they've only just started swapping emails and natural hair care regimens when a string of unsettling events causes Nella to become public enemy number one, and Hazel, the office darling. And then the notes start to appear on Nella's desk:

LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. 

Nella can't believe that Hazel's been leaving the notes; despite her crude code-switching and competitive vibes, the new Black girl doesn't seem that hostile. But as Nella begins to spiral, obsess, and ultimately uncover the sinister forces at play, she risks losing much more than her career. The stakes are higher than she could have imagined—far beyond P&Ls and promotions. 

Propulsive, darkly funny, and endlessly surprising, The Other Black Girl is a whip-smart commentary on diversity in the workplace. It brims with cringey, all-too-real struggles of being a Black woman in a largely white industry, but will also resonate with anyone who's ever felt manipulated or outmaneuvered, threatened or overlooked. As disturbing as it is tender, this is a novel that questions the silence we trade for success, and asks, in the end, whether that sacrifice can ever truly be worth it.