Summary

Nella Rogers, a Black editorial assistant at a publishing house called Wagner Books, is working at her cubicle when she smells Brown Buttah, a hair care product popular among Black women. She realizes that there must be another Black woman in the office, a suspicion that is corroborated when one of Nella’s white coworkers, Sophie, approaches her and informs her that Maisy Glendower, one of the editors, is interviewing a Black woman for a potential position.

A couple of weeks later, Nella’s boss, Vera, calls Nella into her office to give feedback on a novel by Colin Franklin called Needles and Pins. Nella feels that the book’s only Black character amounts to a one-dimensional caricature, but is anxious about telling Vera this. Just as Nella is about to work up the courage to tell Vera her opinion of Needles and...