Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
Categories
Thriller / suspense fiction

THE OTHER BLACK GIRL

Zakiya Dalila Harris

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. Zakiya Dalila Harris spent nearly three years in editorial at Knopf/Doubleday before leaving to write her debut novel The Other Black Girl. Prior to working in publishing, Zakiya received her MFA in creative writing from The New School. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in Guernica and The Rumpus.

Available products
Book Published 2021-06-01 by Atria Books

Comments

I'm obsessed with this book... a deeply unsettling thriller... Full of biting social commentary and dark twists and turns, you have to add The Other Black Girl to your TBR list. Stat. Read more...

Wise and funny and it does what the best books do--it opens up a whole world of two young black women in the very white world of publishing, making the narrative both eye-opening social commentary and a delicious thriller. A mega-talented new author who deserves all the buzz building for her now--and every accolade she is surely going to get.

TV rights have been optioned by Hulu with Temple Hill Entertainment, following a heated bidding war. Temple Hill is the production company of Twilight, The Hate U Give, The Fault in Our Stars, Love, Simon, to name a few; the producer Tara Duncan is a former Netflix executive who worked on major shows including Orange Is the New Black and Narcos. Hulu is on a major book-to-tv push following the success of The Handmaid's Tale and the launch of Little Fires Everywhere. Deadline calls the novel "a darkly comedic take on workplace politics and the importance of female friendship."

OMG, as the kids say. This is the funniest, wildest, deepest, most thought-provoking ride of a book. I have been Nella. Every black woman has been Nella. Zakiya Dalila Harris has pulled back the curtain on the publishing industry, but in doing so, she has also perfectly captured a social dynamic that exists in job cultures as varied as tech, finance, academia, or hell, even retail and fast food. Oh, beware of the "OBGs"Other Black Girlsy'all. As we should all be aware of the psychic cost to black women of making ourselves palatable to institutions that use our cultural cache for their own ends while disregarding any part of our hearts and minds that they either can't or won't understand.

The year's most buzzed-about debut more than lives up to the hype. On the surface, the story of ambitious young editorial assistant Nella Rogers and her desire to bond with new girl Hazel-Mae, "the other black girl", it is also a smart riff on black horror, the publishing world, and the realities of being black and female. Read more...

...a brilliant, twisty, and highly relevant thriller inspired by the author's own experiences in working in the still very white world of publishing. Read more...

I was on page 186 when I knew I was going to finish The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris in one night... I found myself laughing and cringing in equal measure so many times whilst devouring this stark and unforgiving look at our industry... Read more...

One of 2021's standout debuts, this is the Get Out meets Devil Wears Prada crossover you've been waiting for... Packed full of shrewd observations on power struggles and suspense, this is unputdownable. Read more...

Waterstones has chosen THE OTHER BLACK GIRL as one of their top debuts of 2021: "Following two young Black women carving their careers in the unexpectedly sinister world of book publishing, Harris's razor-edged debut is at once a gripping thriller and a shrewd piece of social commentary." Read more...

BBC most anticipated debuts of 2021: "A sly satire and thriller rolled into one as it confronts race, competition and sincerity in the work place." Read more...

Filled with twists both unsettling and unexpected... such a timely read. Read more...

An intimate and specific look at the joys and pains of being a Black woman, especially one working in a majority-white industry... The Other Black Girl is hysterical, intimate, and warm - and bristling with dread. Every page pulls you deeper into the nightmare, coiling tighter and tighter until before you know it, there's no escape.

The Other Black Girl has been named Most Anticipated Book of 2021 in the US and UK by Time, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Harper's Bazaar, Goodreads, BBC, Fortune, Betches, Hyperbae, The Rumpus, LitHub, CrimeReads, Electric Literature, The Millions, Waterstones, Cosmo UK, The Irish Times, The Independent, and... more!

Witty, inventive and smart, The Other Black Girl goes deeper to take on class privilege, race and gender in a narrative that slyly plays along the edges of convention. Zakiya Dalila Harris's debut is a brilliant combustion of suspense, horror and social commentary that leaves no assumption unchallenged and no page unturned.

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. Read more...

...a thrilling, edgier "Devil Wears Prada" that explores privilege and racism. Read more...

... what could be the big fiction hit of the summer... this read is ideal for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or dismissed in the workplace. Read more...

....we're going to hear a lot about this book for years to come, and I can't wait. Read more...

UK/Commonw.: Bloomsbury; Brazil: Intrinseca (preempt); France: Calmann-Levy (preempt); Hungary: Gabo ; Israel: Aryeh Nir ; Korea: Munhakdongne ; Romania: RAO ; Spain: Urano

Buzzy debut set in publishing that explores race and class in the workplace. Read more...

A cheeky blend of horror, suspense, and cultural commentary that sends up the industry the 27-year-old used to work in. Read more...

...reads like Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada and is already set for an adaptation at Hulu.

Riveting, fearless, and vividly original. This is an exciting debut.

"Meet the Author": find out more about Zakiya's inspirations behind the book in her video introduction. Read more...