Jen, a happily married thirty-something and would-be artist, has been made redundant. Out of sheer financial desperation, she has taken a description-less job at a charitable foundation run by a wealthy (and largely absent) celebrity. Amid the absurd day-to-day operations of the foundation, Jen feels increasingly futile and anxious. Her belief in herself as an artist, her very sane and loving husband, her desire to (and despair that she hasn't yet) had a baby, and her bond with her two well-meaning best friends are all called into question.
This is a hilarious and heart-warming story that combines a satirical contempt for aspects of modernity, with warmth and an enduring faith in humanity.
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['it's hard to reproduce these kinds of results if - oh sorry,' Jen said, realising a beat too late that the rest of the room had gone quiet]***
(@BoroughPress, 28 July 2016, 400 pages, paperback, copy from @@AmazonUK #AmazonVine)
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This book didn't quite pan out as I expected. I tend to enjoy satire but it's a style that can be a success or a failure. This book falls somewhere between the two. There are some funny moments but the satire just doesn't work a lot of the time. The non-profit (whatever that is) where Jessica Works is a brilliant example of an unhealthy and often ridiculous modern work place. The people who work there don't have a clue about the 'projects' they're supposed to be working on and buzz words and idiotic concepts are the cream of the crop. I found this part of the book the most entertaining though this started to grate after a while. Jen has her moments but I found her irritating and whiny a lot of the time. She gets hysterical over things that aren't actually issues. I wanted to slap her. This is just too uneven to work for me.
