Nella Rogers is an editorial assistant and the only Black employee at Wagner Books, a prestigious but white-dominated publishing house in New York City. She feels constant pressure to assimilate until the company hires Hazel-May McCall. Initially hopeful for an ally, Nella soon notices Hazel’s rapid social ascent and unsettling behavior. After receiving anonymous notes ordering her to leave the company, Nella investigates Hazel’s past, uncovering a sinister corporate conspiracy involving hair care products and a systemic effort to neutralize Black dissent within professional spaces via brainwashing and psychological manipulation.
Readers interested in the intersections of corporate satire and supernatural horror will find a detailed breakdown of how institutional racism functions through microaggressions and tokenism. This book targets those who want to see the tension of office politics escalated into a high-stakes thriller. The audience walks away with a grim perspective on the physical and mental costs of professional success for minority workers, alongside a cynical analysis of how organizations prioritize superficial diversity over genuine structural change or individual autonomy.
Balanced in tone; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2021
- Language
- EN
