The List: A Novel

Michael and Ola met during the summer of 2016 at Black Brits, a media networking event. Ola found a picture of him on Facebook wearing a Ghanaian flag as a bandana and sent it to her friends, Ruth and Celie, who made fun of him while acknowledging his “gorgeous” looks. With Michael, Ola felt like she could be herself, although always paying their restaurant bills annoyed her.

In the present, Ola wakes up to over 100 messages. She cannot read them due to #BLOCKEDT—a “weapons-grade” app that limits her screen time. Ola assumes that most of the messages are from Frankie Webb, her boss at Womxxxn—a prominent digital quarterly for women. Ola is the current affairs editor, and Frankie has assigned Ola to create a post focusing on body positivity and on Kalmte Kut, a Danish brand that infuses sex toys with CBD. In the bathroom, Ola remembers Michael taking an Uber back to her place and putting her to bed. At work, her phone unlocks, and she sees messages from Celie and Ruth, asking her about The List and wanting to make sure she is all right.

Michael thinks that Ola is an “African beauty” who is intelligent, driven, and caring; he thinks she’s his soulmate. He remembers taking Ola home last night in an Uber and dancing with her in her space. She called herself “Mrs. Koranteng.”

Michael gets ready for his first day at CuRated—a digital platform aimed at men—and notices myriad texts and missed calls. Ola’s friend Celie sends him a link to a Twitter account, @_the_list, which has two tweets. The first pinned tweet thanks survivors for identifying their abusers from the entertainment and media sectors. The second tweet features the spreadsheet of abusers, and Michael, with his name spelled “Micheal,” is number 42. Someone has accused him of physical assault at an office Christmas party, and he has also been accused of harassment and threatening conduct. The anonymous person claims to have secured a restraining order against Michael.

The list gives Michael a headache. He tells Celie that the allegations are false, reports the tweet, and goes to work. The narrative reveals that earlier, in December, CuRated’s social media manager posted a picture of their Christmas party, revealing that all their employees were white. To curb the negative publicity, CuRated hired Michael, who will host one of their YouTube shows. Now, Michael meets Beth Walker, the head of human resources, who mispronounces his last name. Also at the meeting is the conservative-looking CEO and editor, Sebastian Fraser.

When Michael goes to his desk, he finds himself preoccupied by The List and recalls his past sexual partners. In college, he had sex with a woman named Gabrielle. It was her first time, and she told her friend Martha that she wished she hadn’t had sex with Michael, admitting to feeling “used.” Michael also had sex with Martha. Now, his phone rings, and Ola wants to speak in person, so they agree to meet at the Pret a Manger near Victoria Station.

At work, Ola reviews The List and the range of allegations. Ola remembers an inappropriate hug from Martin Frost, Womxxxn’s director, and his sexual comments about her coworker and friend Kiran, who is Indian and identifies as pansexual. The Afroswing artist Papi Danks is also on the list, and so is the famous former soccer player and current TV personality Lewis Hale. Ola reads Michael’s entry and feels dizzy. The comments “scream” at her, and she imagines what people are saying in their DMs (direct messages).

While attending university, Ola founded the Black Feminist Society, and she now attends protests and panels and regularly speaks out against toxic behavior. For Womxxxn, Ola has published a viral article titled “MCsToo” that addresses the behavior of allegedly abusive men in the music industry. The fans of the respective musicians questioned the allegations, and Ola now finds herself in a similar situation with Michael. She does not think that Michael could be a predator, but she does not want to silence the anonymous person who made the allegations. Ola sends a DM to the account and remembers the soothing advice of her half-sister, Fola.

Ola meets Frankie in her glass office—a symbol of Womxxxn’s dedication to “transparency.” On the wall is a replica of the September 2017 digital cover featuring activist and model Jada Smalls breastfeeding her baby. Earlier in 2017, Elle put a burn survivor on their cover, so Frankie countered with Smalls, the first person with albinism to appear on the cover of a women’s outlet.

Frankie is an attractive woman in her late forties. After editing print women’s magazines that perpetuated harmful, narrow beauty standards, Frankie started Womxxxn as a way to adjust to the online economy and the increasing demand for inclusivity. She chose the name because she interpreted “womxn,” a term signaling anti-sexism, as “wo-minx” and wanted women to channel their “inner minx.” The content is sharp and purposeful, but the “hypocrisy” regularly bewilders Ola.

Now, Frankie reminds Ola to focus on her job. Frankie does not care about the Kalmte Kut post because she wants Ola to write about The List instead.

The post accumulates retweets and likes as Michael and Ola meet at Pret a Manger. Michael realizes that the busy coffee shop is an awkward place to discuss the allegations, and he jokes about the need for a start-up offering spaces for people to work out their problems.

Ola asks Michael why his name is on The List. Michael claims not to know why and speculates that someone is trying to get him fired. No one has issued him a restraining order, and he has never worked at a place that holds Christmas parties. After a stint at an Apple store and a shoe store, he earned money from YouTube content and a popular podcast called Caught Slippin. Michael wants Ola to trust him rather than believing an unidentified person on social media. However, Ola does not want to silence the women who participated in The List. Ola asks if Michael ever acted “threatening.” She reflects that sometimes, Michael raises his voice with her.

The List account disappears from Twitter, and Michael hopes that the public indignation will subside. However, Michael has lied to Ola before, and if he cannot prove his innocence, she will call off the wedding.

Ola tries on dresses with her two best friends, Celie and Ruth. Ruth is skeptical of The List and the accusations against Michael, but Celie thinks that Ola should reconsider her choice to marry Michael. Celie is Christian and smaller bodied, and she works for an independent book publisher. Ruth is bigger bodied and always wears makeup. She buys synthetic lashes from Chinese vendors, puts them in cute boxes, labels them “Cashmere Lash Doll,” and then charges 400% more for them. Ruth, Celie, and Ola have known each other for 20 years, but if Ruth and Celie were to meet today for the first time, Ola does not think that they would be friends. Now, Ruth and Ola bicker over how Ola should proceed. Ola reminds Celie that canceling the Nigerian-Ghanaian wedding of a somewhat “Insta-famous” couple would not be easy, as Ola and Michael have both become symbols of “Black love.”

Frankie texts Ola for an update on the article about The List. Although Twitter took it down, the article remains central to online discourse. People criticize The List for conflating “creepy” behavior with putting drugs in a woman’s drink. In the midst of the controversy, Ola feels as though she is on the verge of a “mental collapse” but tries to stay sensible. She remembers her sister’s comment about the volatility of social media and wonders if all the contributors to The List are women. Celie opines that people should believe all women’s claims of sexual assault, but Ruth argues that women can be “dickheads” just like men. Ola hires Luke, a private investigator, to look into Michael’s past activities.

Ola and Michael meet with a lawyer named Gary Deakins, who explains that Michael cannot sue Twitter because the law does not make social media sites liable for what people post. Michael feels more “warmth” from Deakins than from Ola. He wonders if Sebastian, CuRated’s CEO, is avoiding him. He also wonders why an up-and-coming Black actor canceled an interview. Michael feels as though he has a “terminal diagnosis.” (Michael is an only child, and at university, he had challenges with his mental health.)

Ten months ago, during a sunset, Michael proposed to Ola. They made an image of the moment, with Michael using #BlackLove. The picture went viral, and Michael and Ola wound up on Instagram accounts featuring famous Black couples like the Obamas and Jay-Z and Beyonce. Now, Michael wishes that he were “less visible.”

Disappointed with the lawyer’s advice, Michael goes to the police, but they cannot take action. Michael also tells the police that one particular account, @mirrorissa92, is harassing him and states that CuRated’s social media manager must delete the comments and ban the username and its variations, like @mirrorissa29. Michael is not an abuser, but he has not always been truthful. He is confident that @mirrorissa29 is a woman named Jackie Asare and that she put him on The List.