RaveThe QuietusAuthenticity versus success? Exhilarating and unpredictable, The Other Black Girl presents us with the ultimate moral dilemma. Waiting with bated breath has been fantastically worth it: Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel is a masterpiece spun with threads of both a stark reality mixed with a touch of the supernatural ... Harris’ humorous descriptions of office culture are vivid and visceral – unsurprising given her own three years spent in the editorial department of Knopf Doubleday ... We’re gripped from the outset; Harris’ conversational writing style and wry humour makes the 350-page book devourable within hour ... Switches from third- to first-person between chapters seem, at first, jarring, but as the plot thickens, the jigsaw pieces slide faster together ... The meanders turn into sharp bends, the story flowing faster after every turn. Unable to second-guess the plot too soon, no one could predict the ending before they got there. As we approach the true climax, we start to see the bigger picture in mounting detail. Brilliantly devised, Harris uses her writing to both pose a question and make a point. Darwinian tones infiltrate the storyline to turn the novel not only into an expert thriller but a contribution to philosophical debate ... forces us to tentatively take a few steps back to examine the attitudes and biases that remain firmly in place in the working world of today.
