A Very Special Episode

A mysterious organization recruits an ambitious scion of elite Black DC society—but to what end? This electric debut novel brilliantly contends with family legacies and what it takes to break free from the expectations of others.

Nina Johnson has always taken pride in belonging to The Tenth. After all, she’s following in the footsteps of her ancestors: Her great-great-grandmother founded the prestigious DC society—a space for influential African Americans—just forty years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Nina’s been elected to helm The Tenth, but she’s determined to escape the influence of her mother, who has long led the organization with a traditional vision, all while keeping Nina under her freshly manicured thumb. Nina’s determined to forge her own path and do things differently: fewer stuffy, out-of-touch meetings and boring galas, more young people, and a swankier headquarters.

To realize her ambitions, Nina needs funding. So, when a wealthy white benefactor named Sienna Masters offers financial support in exchange for her participation in a mysterious project at a former public housing complex, The Orchard, Nina ignores her initial skepticism and agrees to a partnership. But as Nina, and her closest friends and family, piece together Sienna's true motives, they discover far more sinister forces at play, ones that exploit Nina's community for profit, with stakes that extend far beyond her ambitions for the Tenth. But how far is Nina willing to go to shape her future? And what is she willing to sacrifice along the way?

A whip-smart and sly social commentary on the complex interplay of race, class, and family legacy, A Very Special Episode will keep you on the edge of your seat.Camille Acker is the author of the short story collection Training School for Negro Girls. She grew up in Washington, D.C., and holds a B.A. in English from Howard University and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from New Mexico State University. Her work has been published in The New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Electric Literature, and in the anthology On Girlhood: 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library. Her writing has received support from the Tin House Residency program, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Voices of Our Nations Arts, and Millay Colony for the Arts, among others. She was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and named a Fellow by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.