Black Girls Must Die Exhausted: A Novel

Granny Tab is the matriarchal figure of the Walker family. Her children and grandchildren love, admire, and respect her, caring deeply for her as she faces significant changes at the end of her life. After experiencing a bad fall and a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, Granny Tab moved to Crestmire Assisted Living to be close to her best friend, Ms. Gretchen. Although Tabby understands the severity of Granny Tab’s symptoms, she secretly hopes that her grandmother can live with her once she buys a home. Granny Tab raised Tabby during her teen years when Jeanie remarried and moved to the East Coast, and Tabby wants to return the favor. As the narrative progresses, Granny Tab exhibits worsening health symptoms, and her death coincides with the novel’s climax. Tabby learns to reprioritize her time and values while writing Granny Tab’s eulogy. As she works through her lingering guilt, Tabby realizes that her grandmother lived a fulfilling life amidst her extensive collection of friends and found family members and died knowing that she stayed true to the content of her character.

Granny Tab embodies resilience, forgiveness, and empathy: traits that she attempts to instill in Tabby. Having endured domestic violence and emotional abuse from her ignorant West Virginia family, Granny Tab pursues empowerment in her unique way. As a white woman raising a Black son on her own, Granny Tab attended college to become a teacher while working to provide for herself and Paul. Even now, Granny Tab remains secretive about her abusive husband and her racist family, only telling Tabby stories of her self-reliance and positive life outlook. She only shares her more traumatizing memories to illustrate the nuanced nature of a person’s identity, and her confession inspires Tabby to be more understanding of other people’s decisions.

Granny Tab’s relationship with Ms. Gretchen mirrors Tabby’s friendships with Laila and Alexis. Although female friendship is not traditionally defined as a major life event on par with developing a career, getting married, or having children, Tabby recognizes the significance of female friends and community as she witnesses her grandmother’s close bond with Ms. Gretchen. Granny Tab and Ms. Gretchen offer Tabby a wealth of generational wisdom, especially concerning her romantic life. They shower Tabby with unconditional love and provide a familiar and comforting atmosphere that Tabby craves in times of emotional distress.

As Tabby’s childhood friend, Alexis represents cultural familiarity, loyalty, and a sense of home for Tabby. The girls grew up down the street from each other and were “thick as thieves and never had any problems until Robert came sniffing around at the end of middle school” (38). Alexis still lives on the same street; her parents, who are still married, live in Alexis’s childhood home. Alexis hit puberty early in adolescence and when she gained a voluptuous figure, she received the moniker “sexy Lexi.” Alexis remains full-figured in adulthood, though Tabby worries about her friend’s health as she neglects exercise and self-care and becomes obese. Tabby and Alexis prioritize major life milestones differently; Alexis marries Rob and begins having children in her twenties, while Tabby focuses on advancing her career. Alexis occasionally acts superior for being the first friend to start a family. Still, Alexis is also a successful real estate agent with a penchant for flipping old houses, and she embodies independence and ambition. The friends’ divergence frequently leads to judgment and bitter feelings of being judged. Still, they remain loyal, apologizing immediately after fights while recognizing their commitment to each other. In short, Alexis and Tabby want the best outcome for each other.

Alexis experiences a crisis during the novel’s rising action when Rob, her husband and the father to their two children, is unfaithful to her. This is not his first instance of infidelity, and Tabby worries that Alexis will forgive Rob again, thus enabling him to mistreat his wife in the future. However, Alexis surprises Tabby by challenging herself to a journey of self-discovery. Alexis removes her wedding ring, symbolizing her commitment to meeting her needs and desires. She begins exercising regularly, and while she attends therapy with Rob, she refuses to allow him to move back into their house. Alexis’s character arc illustrates how women are expected to sacrifice themselves for their husbands and children, though Allen fights this ideology by demonstrating Alexis’s evolving self-realization. Rob attempts to justify his affair by blaming Alexis’s professional success for driving his insecurities, and this attitude highlights the hypocrisy that women face for achieving success in all life spheres.

As Tabby’s best friend from college, Laila shares commonalities with almost every aspect of Tabby’s life. Both women work as journalists, come from multiracial families, and enjoy their independent, single status. Additionally, while both women love Alexis, they often feel that she judges them for not yet settling into marriage and motherhood. Tabby envies Laila’s boldness, quick wit, and authenticity, for Laila exhibits professional ambition and creativity and refuses to minimize her perspective to make others comfortable. Laila and Tabby enjoy a bond that is very different from their bond with Alexis; they speak their own language and share inside jokes. When either friend faces a crisis, they text “911,” signaling their need for emotional support and wine. Because of their similarities, Laila and Tabby easily understand and empathize with each other, especially concerning each character’s multifaceted view of her own cultural identity and heritage.

Tabby struggles to accept Laila’s new relationship with Lawrence, a married man, as the situation reminds her of her own father’s infidelity. Moreover, Laila asks Tabby to hide her relationship from Alexis, and this becomes problematic when Alexis reveals Rob’s affair. However, when Tabby is blindsided by Laila’s attempt to die by suicide, all three friends renew their commitment to each other. Laila loses her job, experiences pregnancy loss, and loses her apartment. To make things worse, Lawerence ends their relationship, and Laila faces an extreme and sudden identity crisis. With Tabby and Alexis’s support, Laila learns that life milestones like career success, home ownership, and having children are not the only markers of a person’s success. Laila works with a life coach and pursues entrepreneurship as a blogger, writing only about issues that she finds significant.