Sweet Bitter Fruit

From the author of Reese’s Book Club pick Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?, A salesman lands on the ground floor of the video gaming world, where he believes he’ll acquire the power and affluence to unlock the door to the American dream―but at what cost? Zachary Cole knows how to sell. His ability to make money for top companies has gained him admission into spaces few Black men are allowed to enter. He’s bought into the idea that in post–Civil Rights Movement America, if he works hard enough, he’ll acquire a piece of the dream his country promised. To make it happen, he jumps at the chance to become the first Black sales manager at Prism, a computer game company vying for a place in the tech boom. Headquartered in California, the small but cash-infused startup vows to create a corporate culture in which anyone is able to move ahead. Perhaps even more intoxicating than Prism’s pledge of colorblindness are the decadent parties, travel, and swag that signal the only way is up. From the company’s sales hub in Charlotte, North Carolina―the Silicon Valley of the South―Zachary revels in his newfound affluence and what it offers his wife, Micah, and their two children.