This was really magnificent. I'd had it bookmarked in my e-library forever--I liked the sound of it, and that cover's really striking--but considering my massive metaphorical TBR pile, I have no idea when I would have gotten around to it if it hadn't been for wanting to vote for the Anthonys. It's just such a layered, ambitious, accomplished novel; it's almost jaw-dropping to me that this was Harris's first book, because it's so rare to come across debut novels this good and this bold.
One of the many things I think the book captures so well, in addition to everything you mentioned up above, is the way prejudice gives people such a short memory: all the white people in the office seem to experience Hazel's diversity efforts as FRESH and NEW and TOTALLY DIFFERENT, ignoring the fact that Nella had tried to do the exact same thing months ago. It feels like another version of the way Hollywood is, say, constantly re-learning that Black-led movies can be major successes or that women can be funny. It's exactly the kind of intensely aggravating "slide back to the status quo" kind of thinking that the hair product offers relief from, because Hazel will just never get tired of it.
Office politics: Nella's boss putting her on the spot to talk about her feelings about Shartricia directly to Colin, with no real backup, is such a horrifically believable "I want to curl up inside myself and die" moment.
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One of the many things I think the book captures so well, in addition to everything you mentioned up above, is the way prejudice gives people such a short memory: all the white people in the office seem to experience Hazel's diversity efforts as FRESH and NEW and TOTALLY DIFFERENT, ignoring the fact that Nella had tried to do the exact same thing months ago. It feels like another version of the way Hollywood is, say, constantly re-learning that Black-led movies can be major successes or that women can be funny. It's exactly the kind of intensely aggravating "slide back to the status quo" kind of thinking that the hair product offers relief from, because Hazel will just never get tired of it.
Office politics: Nella's boss putting her on the spot to talk about her feelings about Shartricia directly to Colin, with no real backup, is such a horrifically believable "I want to curl up inside myself and die" moment.