Black Girls Must Have It All - (Black Girls Must Die Exhausted) by Jayne Allen

Book Synopsis

In this final installment in the acclaimed Black Girls Must Die Exhausted trilogy, Tabitha is juggling work, relationships, and a newborn baby--but will she find the happy ending she's always wanted?

After a whirlwind year, Tabitha Walker's carefully organized plan to achieve the life she wanted--perfect job, dream husband, and stylish home--has gone off the rails. Her checklist now consists of diapers changed (infinite), showers taken (zero), tears cried (buckets), and hours of sleep (what's that?).

Don't get her wrong, Tabby loves her new bundle of joy and motherhood is perhaps the only thing that's consistent for her these days. When the news station announces that they will be hiring outside competitors for the new anchor position, Tabby throws herself into her work. But it's not just maintaining her position as the station's weekend anchor that has her worried. All of her relationships seem to be shifting out of their regular orbits. Best friend Alexis can't manage to strike the right balance in her "refurbished" marriage with Rob, and Laila's gone from being a consistent ride-or-die to a newly minted entrepreneur trying to raise capital for her growing business. And when Marc presents her with an ultimatum about their relationship, coupled with an extended "visit" from his mother, Tabby is forced to take stock of her life and make a new plan for the future.

Consumed by work, motherhood, and love, Tabby finds herself isolated from her friends and family just when she needs them most. But help is always there when you ask for it, and Tabby's village will once again rally around her as she comes to terms with her new life and faces her biggest challenge yet--choosing herself.

Review Quotes

"Masterfully written and pitch perfect, Black Girls Must Be Magic is, simply, magic." -- Good Morning America on Black Girls Must Be Magic

"Allen shines in her second installment of a planned trilogy about a career-driven Black woman... Allen's sharp, frank prose advances the engaging plot. This bittersweet treat will have wide appeal with women's fiction fans." -- Publishers Weekly on Black Girls Must Be Magic

"An impossible-to-put-down novel chronicling Tabitha Walker's extremely relatable journey through relationships--with men, friends, family, and most importantly, herself. With finely-drawn characterizations and touching life lessons, Jayne Allen paints Tabitha's "adulting" journey with heartbreaking, heartwarming strokes that stayed with me long after I'd finished reading. (On a personal note, as a Black woman who struggles with infertility, it's so refreshing that Allen sheds a light on this rarely-told story.) Sign me up for the trilogy!" -- Tia Williams, award-winning author of The Perfect Find and Seven Days in June on Black Girls Must Die Exhausted

"Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is a smart, sophisticated portrait of three very different women, united in both their struggles and their joy. Allen seamlessly blends sharp social commentary with a heartwarming story of friendship between irresistibly complex characters. A fresh, punch-packing debut from an author to watch!" -- Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read on Black Girls Must Die Exhausted

"In Jayne Allen's debut novel, Black Girls Must Die Exhausted, readers are reminded of many ways Black women are not afforded tranquility, time or space to just be. . . .. What readers will discover is this: Black women figure it out. Whether Allen's characters are contending with a problematic manager at work, a husband's poor decisions or a grim diagnosis, they come together and empower one another with a web of understanding and love that is not available elsewhere in their lives, where they have to project an image of perfection. . . . Black Girls Must Die Exhausted is the first novel in a three-book series. If her opening salvo is any indication, Allen promises to show the relentlessness of the trauma Black women deal with every day leavened with the solidarity of friends who can relate." -- New York Times Book Review on Black Girls Must Die Exhausted