First time in paperback-the new novel from the acclaimed author of Caucasia .

McBride's The Color of Water " ( Glamour ), "a novel as thematically and dramatically rich as fiction can be" ( Booklist ). Now comes the long-awaited follow-up to her prize-winning national bestseller-a rich and psychologically astute page-turner that shocks and moves with knifelike precision and startling invention.

A young woman moves to New York City for what promises to be a dream job. Displaced, she feels unsure of her fit in the world. Then comes a look of recognition, a gesture of friendship from an older woman named Greta who shares the same difficult-to-place color of skin. On common ground, a tenuous alliance grows between two women in racial limbo. So too, does the older woman's unnerving obsession, leading to a collision of two lives spiraling out of control. A beautifully written novel, at once suspenseful, erotic, and tantalizingly clever, Symptomatic is a groundbreaking contribution to the literature of racial identity.