**Content warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault and self-harm. Listener discretion is advised.**

What would happen if every white person in the world suddenly died, leaving Black people and other people of color to rebuild society and decide what comes next?

In this episode of *Shelf Sabotage*, Tasha and Arielle discuss Cebo Campbell’s *Sky Full of Elephants*, Left on Read’s September Book Club selection. They unpack the novel’s world-building, character development, racial allegory, and vision of Black life after whiteness. The conversation moves through Sydney’s shifting identity, Charlie’s complicated past, the loss of generational knowledge, the value placed on formal education, and the challenge of building a new society without reproducing the systems that shaped the old one.

They also consider Campbell’s reflections in his Electric Literature interview, including his desire to remove the white gaze, his idea of unity as a form of technology, and the tension between Black trauma, shared understanding, and collective joy.

Tune in as Arielle and Tasha dive into Zeal by Morgan Jerkins, a sweeping, multigenerational novel about love, loss, family secrets, and the ways one generation’s choices can shape those that follow. They discuss the dual timelines, Tirzah and Harrison’s enduring connection, Ardelia and Oliver’s complicated relationship, and whether the ending delivers on the story’s promise.

Note:  This episode includes discussion of domestic violence and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

Note:  This episode includes discussion of domestic violence and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

Author Nikesha Elise Williams joins us for part two to discuss the family secrets, complicated relationships, and generations of Black women at the center of the novel. We also talk about her writing and publishing journey, the choices behind the story, and what she hopes readers carry with them after the final page.

Listen to the new episode of Shelf Sabotage™ wherever you get your podcasts.

Support Nikesha’s work by purchasing The Seven Daughters of Dupree, exploring her self-published backlist, requesting her books through your local library, leaving a review, and sharing them with other readers.

In Part 1 of our conversation about The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams, we unpack the secrets, relationships, and inherited wounds connecting seven generations of women from 1860 to 1995.

We talk through our first impressions, the shifting timeline, the characters who tested our patience, and the ways the novel explores motherhood, colorism, passing, hair, reproductive trauma, family silence, and the harm that can grow when people refuse to tell the truth.

Listen now and stay tuned for Part 2 when we sit down with Nikesha to discuss the novel, her research, and our burning questions after reading.

Check out Part 2 of our Harlem Rhapsody discussion. This time, we're joined by the book's author, Victoria Christopher Murray, who discusses the research behind the novel, her writing process, the choices she made in telling Jessie Redmon Fauset’s story, and where history ends and fiction begins.

We also get into Victoria's latest novel, the responsibility of writing real Black historical figures, and what she hopes readers carry with them after reading Harlem Rhapsody.

In Part 1, we discuss Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray. Join us as we get into the complicated relationship between Jessie Redmon Fauset and W.E.B. Du Bois—from the affair, grief, and power dynamics to race relations and more.

The conversation continues in Part 2, where we speak with Victoria about her writing process, what in the story is real and what's not, and her latest novel.

The real question: would you have covered for Dimple?

This week, we're unpacking the siblings' decision, the predicament they find themselves in, and the audacity of Cyril.

In this episode, we discuss Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez—a multigenerational historical fiction rooted in land, legacy, family secrets, and the history behind the Kingdom of the Happy Land.