Break in Case of Emergency

Jessica Winter

The age-old problem of trying to ‘have it all’ bedevil our thirty-something heroine as she juggles the roles of wife, employee and best friend, while confronting the issue of a fertility ticking-time bomb. This biting satire will strike many a chord with anyone who has ever worked in an all-female workplace, with bitchy bosses and undermining colleagues.

Extract

'It’s interesting,' Karina said, 'that you chose to bring this up now, here, with me. Not in front of the group, not in front of Leora, when we were all exploring these ideas together, as a team. That’s an interesting choice. In making that choice, what message are you sending, to me and, more important, to yourself?'
'The only message I’m aware that I’m aware that I’m sending,' Jen said brightly, sweat pearling on her philtrum, 'is that to many people – many women- TTC stands for ‘trying to conceive’, which may confuse people if we decide it stands for Total Transformation Challenge.'
'The message you’re sending, I would say,' Karina replied, 'is that you don’t trust the give-and-take of the group dynamic, and that you’re insecure about sharing your ideas in mixed company.'

Parallels