Zakiya Dalila Harris - A another black girl

An important, forward-looking and razor-sharp first novel about the tension that develops between two young black women who meet in front of the perfectly white background of a New York book publishing house.

Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is fed up with being the only black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with isolation and microaggressions, she's excited when Harlem-born and raised Hazel finds herself at the publishing house and the desk next door. However, just as they begin to compare natural hair care practices, a series of unpleasant events causes Hazel to become the favorite of the office, while Nella remains at the bottom of the ladder. Then messages appear on Nella's desk: QUIT! NOW!
It's hard to believe that Hazel is behind the hostile letters, but Nella, whose thinking is becoming increasingly narrow, maniacally searches for the evil forces lurking in the background, and soon has to realize that much more than her career is at stake.

The Other Black Girl is a smartly written, dynamic thriller and sly social critique, a perfect read for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened or looked over at work. It maintains the tension until the last turn.

Zakiya Dalila Harris spent nearly three years as an editor at Knopf Doubleday before quitting to write her first novel, The Other Black Girl. Prior to his time in book publishing, Harris earned a degree in creative writing from The New School. His essays and book reviews have appeared in Guernica and Rumpus.