All Her Little Secrets

As author Wanda M. Morris reminds us in her debut novel, we all have secrets. Morris is a practicing corporate attorney, giving her strong bona fides to offer readers the inside track about a black woman who has overcome all the obstacles to become the second in command of the legal department at Houghton Transportation Company, headquartered in Atlanta. Ellice Littlejohn escaped small town Chillecothe and an abusive family situation when she got a scholarship to a Virginia boarding school and went on to graduate from Georgetown and then Harvard Law. She has always dreamed of being a lawyer and an executive, but she didn't want it to happen as a result of her boss--and secret married lover--Michael Sayles getting murdered; she is even less prepared when the head of the company insists she take his place immediately in the executive suite. Something is very off about the whole arrangement and she quickly learns that several other top executives are not happy about the appointment and that the police investigating the murder think she might have had something to do with it. Ellice has told so many lies over the course of her life, mostly to protect herself of those she loves--little brother Sam or surrogate mother Vera--that colleagues and friends alike are shocked when some of her past begins to surface. She discovers two very disturbing things about Houghton: the CEO is suffering from dementia and the company is actually being run by two ruthless men, the COO and the CFO; and there are some really shady things going on at Houghton that could have huge implications. But Ellice is caught between conflicting demands of protecting her brother, who has been roped into the mess by someone at Houghton and trying to do what is right. 

Kirkus highlights the conundrum when they open their review by saying, "A seat on the executive board should be a professional peak for a corporate lawyer. Instead, it’s a life-threatening trap." Publishers Weekly offers "Morris gives her flawed lead plenty to struggle with, including a secret, ex-con brother; workplace sexism and racism; and an awkward encounter with her lover’s widow. The fast pacing doesn’t overwhelm the deep dive into Ellice’s inner life." And NPR says the books "is a carefully constructed thriller wrapped in a narrative about racism, gentrification, and being the only Black person in an all-white environment."