Author Alex Travis, who burst onto the scene with The Only Black Girl in the Room, is bringing something fresh to the young adult thriller space: a story that doesn’t just keep readers on the edge of their seats, but also challenges the power structures that shape its characters’ lives. Her latest novel, The Payback Girls, blends high school drama, romance, and a life-or-death mystery into a fast-paced, genre-bending ride.
At the heart of the story are three Black girls at a predominantly white private school—Robin, Bria, and Meghan—who have two things in common: they all dated the same guy, and they’ve all just become suspects in his attempted murder. As they fight to clear their names, old grudges and hidden secrets come to light, making it impossible to know who to trust. Travis recently spoke to Blavity about her inspiration, the importance of centering messy, complicated Black girls in YA fiction, and what readers can expect from her thriller debut.
The novel has been described as John Tucker Must Die meets One of Us Is Lying. What do you make of that and how else would you describe the influences for this story?
The story was definitely inspired by John Tucker Must Die, with the idea coming from, what if the girls actually did kill him? Then from there, the idea of all of them being suspects, and wondering who is reliable within that narrative connected it to One of Us Is Lying. I was also inspired by the dynamics of how girls are often pitted against each other, especially when there’s a guy involved, and how that can be even more exacerbated when you’re one of a few Black girls in a predominantly white space.
Why did you choose to set the novel in a majority-white private school, and how does that setting impact the characters?
The setting adds another layer, because, as the few Black girls, their classmates have different skewed or biased perspectives of them that then also bleed into how they see themselves and each other. They then are forced to confront those biases and the way that they’ve been looked at as enemies, or victims, or conspirators and what that means for how they view themselves within the world they’re in.
Meghan, Bria, and Robin are all complex, flawed, and layered characters. How did you develop their voices and perspectives?
I’ve always loved writing about strong and complex women and girls. One of my first topics of interest was Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII. I took some of that interest and weaved in what some of their voices and perspectives could be in these characters. Robin is the Catherine of Aragon, the first wife, who was the longest-serving queen and had a specific contingent of support behind her, as well as those who wanted her overthrown. Bria is the Anne Boleyn, who came in and disrupted the long-running partnership, and rubbed people the wrong way in doing so. Meghan is the Jane Seymour, who appears meek and subservient at first, but who is still machinating behind the scenes as well. From there I built out what that could look like in a high school environment, and for three Black girls from different family and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Your book tackles themes of power structures and implicit biases. How did you approach weaving these topics into a thriller?
Writing about implicit biases is something that permeates all of my work so far, and the power structures that reinforce those biases are ones that I try to challenge. The drama between these characters couldn’t exist without a power structure that makes them feel like they have to be the only one in the room to survive in their environment. And, as the book goes on, the characters start to push back against that power structure and those biases and, in that, discover new layers to themselves and each other.
As a Black woman in academia and psychology, how has your background influenced your storytelling?
Academia and psychology are both fields that are predominantly white, and as I’ve navigated them, I’ve had experiences as a Black woman that have forced me to reckon with power structures that have made me feel like I don’t always belong. Especially with my first book, The Only Black Girl in the Room, I was trying to make sense of my first real workplace experiences and the racism that came with them. Moving into the Young Adult space, I also want to explore those dynamics, how they can impact the psyche of young Black girls, and maybe help break down some of the barriers that we, as Black women and girls, feel in spaces that weren’t designed for us.
The Payback Girls will be released on April 1.
