The Other Black Girl: A Novel

by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Hardcover, 2021

Status

Available

Publication

Atria Books (2021), Edition: First Edition, 368 pages

Description

"Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada in this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. 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 microaggressions, she's thrilled when Harlem-born and bred 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 elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust. 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 realizes that there's a lot more at stake than just her career. A whip-smart and dynamic thriller and sly social commentary that is perfect for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member froxgirl
Welcome to Stepford Wives for a new era and ethnicity! This is a stunner of a book, based on the crabs-in-a-barrel metaphor, rather than each-one-teach-one. Nella is a Black editorial assistant at a blindingly white publishing house who has been stymied for two years by bias and macro-aggressions
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at her job. When one of their popular authors submits a manuscript with the most wretched stupid stereotype of a "crack 'ho", updated for the opioid epidemic, Nella objects strenuously and seems to be on the verge of getting fired when in walks Hazel, an impeccably dressed and groomed Black woman who wins immediate approval from everyone at Wagner's, including the iconic founder Richard Wagner, and slides effortlessly into the company and moves to the front of the two person Black woman line, in front of Nella. Then threatening notes appear on Nella's desk, telling her to leave Wagner's, and Hazel's reaction of disapproval creates a small bond between them. In between the 2018 Nella story timeframe, we meet Shani and Kendra Rae, who had their own literary careers blown up in similar instances back in 1983. What do they all have in common? Is there “a river of Uncle Toms flowing through the shiny plastic surface of white America?” There's a mystery to be unraveled here, but the strength is in the author's remarkable ability to see and amplify Nella's struggle to rise while maintaining her outrage and her belief in her own talent. There are a few not-minor plot holes here involving Nella’s white boyfriend and her dear best friend Malaika, but there’s also going to be a great movie/TV series here if the Black truth portrayed so vividly here can be sustained in other media.

Quotes: “They rarely asked her about “Black issues” – either because they didn’t want to offend her by doing so, or because they simply didn’t care enough to ask.”

“At a historically Black college, she’d been blessed with the ability to forget white people existed, if only for a little while.”

“It was in seemingly mundane moments like those – when she told a white man something so basic about herself that made his eyes boggle out of his head – that she felt closest to all of the enslaved Black people who were Black long before she was: all of the enslaved Black men and women who impressed white people with their reading abilities; all the Black men and women who had impressed a white person simply by existing.”

“She picked her battles, if she dared pick any, wisely. That was what she had been taught: to stand still for so long that when you started to run, they’d be so dumbfounded that they wouldn’t even follow.”
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LibraryThing member jnmegan
For her debut novel, The Other Black Girl, Zakiya Delila Harris uses her insider knowledge of the publishing world to introduce the reader to that unique environment. She also provides the perspective of a “token black woman” in an industry that struggles to reconcile entrenched racism with the
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goal of “purposeful diversification.” The book opens with a prologue that will leave readers scratching their head in more ways than one. The main character here is Nella, an ambitious assistant editor at the highly esteemed Wagner Books. She hopes that all her efforts will put her in line for a promotion, but they are dashed by the entrance of another black women who is hired as her peer. Hazel is a confident, magnetic woman who quickly becomes Nella’s opponent in office politics. Nella seems to be overly gracious in her tolerance of Hazel’s manipulation and mercurial attitudes. As Hazel rises meteorically in the opinions of her bosses and coworkers, Nella becomes more bogged down with self-doubts about her own competence. She bolsters her efforts by working harder, hoping to be recognized. She no longer has time to devote to the important causes and activities she used to value, and she becomes increasingly paranoid and erratic. Nella suspects that Hazel is hiding something from her past that may be potentially dangerous, and she enlists her best friend to help ferret out the truth. This when The Other Black Girl takes a remarkably unexpected turn. No spoilers here, but readers will benefit if they go back and re-read that puzzling prologue again. Harris has drawn the reader down a clue-strewn path that are only becomes resolved by the last few chapters. Excellent writing and characterization make this novel a fantastic summer read for those looking for a different kind of suspense mystery by a talented new author.
Thanks to the author, Atria Books and Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
When I first started The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris I was kind of disappointed thinking it to be another "white people suck" book. The protagonist has a white boyfriend, maybe that was to pacify the "not all white people" crowd. The book is filled with well-educated, upwardly mobile
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young Black women who have a lot to say about a lot of things and they say it in a young, urban language that Harris doesn't translate for 75-year-old white women. But you know, we old ladies can keep up. Count publishing off my list of dream careers. What with toadying up to the superiors and mind-breaking work the shine is off that profession. Nella Rogers is a brilliant assistant who works for a prestigious publishing house whose strong support of diversity is demonstrated by the release of a book by a Black author just last year. And they hired Nella who wants more than anything to be an editor, but she doesn't seem to get promoted. Then one day what amazing thing should happen but that they hire another young, brilliant, chic Black woman assistant. Nella is very excited thinking they can be friends, but Hazel, the new hire, instead takes over all Nella's work friends because she seems to possess more charisma than Beyonce, Bill Clinton, and Obama combined. What is going on here? And I loved finding out what was going on as I got a detailed tutorial in black hair. It's very hard for me not to stop people on the street and recommend this book to them.
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LibraryThing member bookappeal
Not impressed. So little happens for so long. The tone keeps shifting and the narrative contains a lot of little inconsistencies. I guessed the big reveal pretty early and the ending evoked no emotion at all. Not sure what point the author was trying to make.
LibraryThing member Hccpsk
2021 critical darling, The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris stumped me. Don’t get wrong — I liked the contemporary tale of Nella, a young black woman trying to find her place in the lily-white world of publishing in New York City. Having recently finished You’ll Never Believe What
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Happened to Lacey (Amber Ruffin) Nella’s experiences as the only person of color in her office rang very true and Harris’ social commentary came straight at the reader with no hesitation. The confusion came with the sub-plot, which has blurbs using words like “suspense” and “thriller”. For me, this aspect of the book felt contrived and really too ridiculous to be satirical, if that was the goal. I just didn’t really get it — I think the office narrative and social justice theme could have stood on their own. But, The Other Black Girl is still well worth reading, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good page-turner with literary and societal chops.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
Nella is a Black woman surrounded by white people at her job in the publishing industry. When a new Black coworker joins the company she isn't all that she seems to be. This one has serious Stepford Wives vibes, but it didn't quite live up to the hype for me. I felt like the payoff wasn't worth the
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slow-burning plot and the flashback scenes were just confusing. I'd be curious to read more from the author in the future though.
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LibraryThing member miss.mesmerized
Nella Rogers has achieved what she could only dream of, at 26 she is editorial assistant at one of the most prestigious publishing houses. The only thing she has been struggling with the last two years is how the idea of diversity has never entered her workplace, after the Asian girl left, she is
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the only person with a different background. Things change when unexpectedly Hazel is employed and gets the cubicle next to her. Nella senses immediately that with another black girl, they might finally make a change in publishing, promote more diverse authors and bring forward new topics relevant to a large audience which wasn’t addressed so far. However, it does not take too long until Nella’s work life starts to go downhill.

Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel has been called one of the buzz books of 2021 by several magazines. I was intrigued by the blurb immediately, a kind of horror version of “The Devil Wars Prada” sounded totally enthralling. For a long time, “The Other Black Girl” could fulfil the expectations, there is a highly uncomfortable feeling creeping around, yet, the end was a bit too much for my liking.

Nella is quite a likeable young woman, hardworking and even though not an activist she is following the Black Lives Matter movement even before this becomes a widespread phenomenon and big news. She imagines being able of making a change in the publishing industry but first needs to get at the position where she has the actual power to do so. Therefore, she is quite assimilated and she swallows comments from her colleagues even though they might be quite offensive for persons of colour. With the arrival of Hazel she seems to get an ally and befriends her immediately.

For the reader, even though there are some chapters which seems unrelated to Nella’s story but hint at some goings-ons beyond her scope, it is obvious that Hazel is not the friendly and reliable colleague Nella assumes, this was an aspect which annoyed me a bit, I didn’t get the impression of Nelly being that naive and credulous at first and would have liked her to be a bit cleverer in relation to what happens at her workplace.

The novel, however, is quite strong at portraying Nella’s feelings as being the only black girl, the role she assigned to as representative of a totally diverse group which is just too simplistic, yet, nobody really seems to care about the concept of diversity, having one black girl is enough. She has other issues than her colleagues, especially the talk about hair was quite a novelty, even though this is a huge topic if you do not have the easy-care blond hair.

Overall, I liked the writing and found Nella’s perspective and the insight in the publishing world interestingly realised.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
Two Black girls amid a sea of white faces are editorial assistants at Wagner books. The slow buildup of the story might make a reader give up, but don’t because it is a look at institutionalized racism that keep non-white employees from advancing. Could I identify with Nella and Hazel, of course
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not. I’m white and used to success but everyone should read this debut novel to see another perspective of the career world.
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LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
Some relevant issues, but way too many character and the storyline goes on for way too long. It pained me to read to the end.
LibraryThing member shazjhb
Terrible book. Such rave reviews what were people reading
LibraryThing member MarthaHuntley
After all they hype about this book, it was a huge disappointment. I gave up on it after struggling to 77% of it to figure out what was going on. I couldn't keep the characters straight, and they were never more than paper thin cartoon-like figures. I went into it expecting a strong, well-written
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mystery, maybe psychological mystery or even a thriller. I found no thrills anywhere, and the mystery was who are these people and what is their motivation (other than the obvious, ambition)? The writing was very disjointed, jumping from character to character, time line to time line. I not only couldn't follow the connections, I couldn't even see any connections - just one character after another thrown out there, apparently seeking to kill another character's career, hopes, and dreams. The black on black aspect was totally baffling to me. I finally gave up -couldn't force myself to keep going in this bad-read book. Maybe it's just me.
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LibraryThing member KatherineGregg
The Other Black Girl is not just about the new girl who appears to be usurping the territory of the more experienced girl in the office. Nella, the first black hire at the prominent but very white Wagner Publishing, is thrilled when Hazel-May is hired as the other black editorial assistant.
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However, Hazel-May has another agenda that is slowly revealed and involves a hair product that has mind altering properties. Another story line is introduced which harkens back to a best selling black author who has not been heard from in decades, and her black editor who is in close contact with Richard, the head of Wagner Publishing. Is it better to be fully aware of racism and feel the pain, or would it be better to not feel anything at all and just plug away at reform and equality? The book covered a lot of interesting ground!
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LibraryThing member JBD1
This is a remarkable slow burn of a novel, which I enjoyed immensely. It's creepy and well paced and just excellent. Will be eagerly awaiting whatever comes next from this author!
LibraryThing member eas7788
*Spoilers* I really enjoyed the voice of Nella and seeing from her perspective. It was a much more interesting look at publishing than Who is Maud Dixon. The questions raised about assimilating, racial identity, acquiescing, code switching, resisting, what members of an oppressed community owe each
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other, etc. all are good. I loved her friendship with Malika and the depiction of office rivalry with Hazel (though it also stressed me out. Ironically, though, the book needed much better editing. The tone was inconsistent and the use of multiple povs was not successful, especially the opening and closing -- no character was as compelling or developed as Nella, for one thing, and the bigger scope those sections tried to add was much weaker than the central focus. Th thriller aspect was weak in part because the Shawnee/Kenny/etc. side was so much smaller -- it seemed like it was trying to have it both ways in terms of letting us in on the big conspiracy and trying to keep us guessing. Smaller things too -- I swear toward the end Nella referred to "hypnotic hair grease" before she knew about it. Ultimately what I enjoyed and appreciated had little to do with it as a thriller and much more to do with it as social commentary.
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LibraryThing member amydross
Very well written, totally engrossing, well drawn characters, all the plot threads were skillfully intertwined. The motivations of the villains remain a little unclear at the end, but the book is an interesting peek into the publishing industry nonetheless.
LibraryThing member maryreinert
Started good; liked the idea of the two black girls dealing with each other and their uniqueness in an upscale publishing company, but then it got weird - one girl putting some kind of magic stuff in hair gel?
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
Wow! This was a very gripping story about black professional women in the world of book publishing. It did take me a long time to get over my initial confusion of who the characters were and why the time setting kept on changing. Once I finally began to see how the plot was developing with the
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“good guys” versus the “bad guys”, I found this book unputdownable.

This story really does a psychological trip on its reader. I kept feeling more and more uncomfortable being drawn into what it feels like to be a black woman in a mostly white professional world.

In this age of focusing on diversity, I loved the opportunity of reading a new novel by a Black writer about the “black experience” and liked that the writer shared what probably were real-life personal thoughts.

I had the Barnes and Noble edition of this book which had “Additional Content” at the end—an additional chapter about Diana and Kenny which, to me, was unnecessary and tiring after having read the conclusion and climax of the book.
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LibraryThing member Bruyere_C
Compelling, chilling tale of systemic racism and personal ambition; psychological thriller dashes of satire and speculative fiction; stellar audiobook performances
LibraryThing member rmarcin
Wow, this was an interesting and well-written book. A little mystery, a little fantasy, and a whole lot of social commentary. The book switches between 1983 and 2018 and centers on black women in publishing, a white-dominated field.
Nella has worked for Wagner for a few years, without getting
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promoted. One day, another black woman, Hazel, comes to work as an assistant and is quickly getting noticed. Hazel tries to bring Nella along with her, to help her understand how to get ahead, but Nella is resistant.
Meanwhile, there is another group, composed of black women who did resist the drive to get ahead by abandoning their sense of self. Who will win?
An interesting take on what black people, women in this case, experience in society, and the things they do to assimilate.
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LibraryThing member mojomomma
Nella is finally no longer the sole black person in her office and she works very hard to try and get ahead. But then Hazel starts working in the cubicle next to year and she makes everything look so easy...or does she? This books has some unexpected and fantastic plot twists as we learn how hair
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grease makes it all possible. Yes, specially formulated hair grease to ease those awkward social interactions in the office and get ahead at last. Seriously.
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LibraryThing member mcelhra
Nella Rogers is an editorial assistant at Wagner books and the only Black employee. While in her cubicle one day, she smells her favorite hair product and looks up to see Hazel, the new editorial assistant, who is also Black. Nella is excited to finally have an ally at work – someone who
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understands the microaggessions and racism she faces in the office every day.

Around the same time that Hazel starts, Nella starts getting notes telling her to leave Wagner. And some other things happen that make her question if Hazel is really her friend or not. Is Hazel the one leaving the notes? It seems like Hazel is sabotaging Nella’s career at times but is she?

The Other Black Girl has been described as a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and Get Out. I think it has strong The Stepford Wives vibes as well. I was actually hoping it would be creepier based on the hype when it first came out.

There is another plotline that takes place in the past that was a little confusing but by the time it converged with the present day, it made sense. I think this is a book where you discover more about it each time you read it. I may read it again someday and see if that’s true.

The author was an editorial assistant at a major publishing house so I’m assuming that her portrayal of what it’s like for a Black person to work at one is accurate. It’s not surprising – the publishing industry has a long way to go in terms of equal treatment of employees and authors of color. I’d be interested to hear what her former employer thinks of the book!
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LibraryThing member fionaanne
After I bought this book, I heard the miniseries was better so I watched it and I do not feel the need to read the book now. The miniseries was very entertaining with an innovtive plot.
LibraryThing member Dreesie
I requested this from the library after reading a review in the LA Times. The queue was long!

I was all in for the first half of the book. It was good--the frustrations of being an assistant, the microaggressions, the annoying coffee maker, the new girl (the other black girl) coming in and seeming
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to step in front of an established assistant. Everything. And then it went off the rails with a big dose of magical realism and lost me. It went from being real and interesting to fantasy and meh.

I am sure the magical realism crowd will love this. I am not part of that crowd. I love it when it is done well, but this did not work for me at all.
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LibraryThing member pgchuis
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley, having requested it following a Bloomsbury Night online event, where it was described as having 'elements of a thriller'. I think that was misleading.

After a prologue set in 1983 where a woman is fleeing New York, most of the
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narrative is set in the present day of 2018 and concerns Nella, who works (as the only Black woman) at a publishing house called Wagner's. Then another Black woman (or girl), Hazel, is employed, and Nella assumes they will be allies, but that is not how things turn out. Most of the novel is very slow. There are chapters from the perspective of Shani which are initially completely mystifying, but gradually begin to make sense. That is to say they make sense in the context of the completely bonkers revelations in the last 80% of the story.

The author had interesting things to say, but the almost fable-like concluding chapters didn't work for me in a novel which had up to that point read as realism. A half star for the very ending, which was, if you buy into the author's premise, a little chilling...
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LibraryThing member decaturmamaof2
Good! I liked the subtext. The "mystery" is quite different.

Awards

Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2022)
Anthony Award (Nominee — First Novel — 2022)
Lefty Award (Nominee — 2022)
BookTube Prize (Octofinalist — Fiction — 2022)

Language

Original language

English
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