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 micro-aggressions, 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 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 realises that there’s a lot more at stake than just her career.
This is a thought provoking and inventive satirical debut novel about privilege and racism, set in the book publishing industry. And there’s a lot to learn about black hair regimens! Although hyped as an office politics thriller, I would say it’s more of a ‘slow-burning sick realisation’ type of scary and certainly has something to say about how hard it is for black women to navigate the nuances of racism in the workplace, especially in publishing where perspectives and ideas are key. The author’s creative premise and plot twists are quite brilliant but the execution of the novel I found a bit lacking, and there were a lot of loose ends.
The story about Nella and Hazel working at Wagner Books was easy to read and most interesting, but the other interspersed sections about Kendra and Shani left me scratching my head–and not because of a hair product. At times the book felt like a slog because I was trying too hard to figure out who people were and what was going on. However, all was revealed in the last 30 pages, and in the end it was an original novel I was glad to have read, and felt eager to discuss with others. The book has already been optioned for TV.
This interview with the author offers really good context for the ideas in the novel without giving any spoilers.
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