Congratulations to Shauna on publication day today! We’ve been having a really fun readalong this week, so thank you to One More Chapter Books for sharing an advance copy of the book with us so that we could be early readers of what I think will be a great addition to loads of bookshelves out there!
Nora thought she’d found her dream job … her perfect career, when she became an editorial assistant at Parsons Press, but five years on, it’s hit her like a ton of bricks that ‘dream job’ might have been a bit too complimentary! She’s bored to tears with the type of work she’s doing, drowning in never-ending admin, and it’s not as if the pay’s all that great! At least she works with a great team, she genuinely likes her boss and she landed up becoming best friends with Beth, who coincidentally started work at Parsons on the same day as Nora did. But then things start to go downhill.
As Parsons starts to re-structure, one by one, the people who Nora relies upon to make her days there bearable, start to leave for greener pastures and she finds her workload steaily increasing. Beth also moves on and although they promise that their friendship will remain intact, Nora can’t help feeling that life is kicking her to ther kerb. When she’s told that she must take a pay-cut, she realizes that drastic action needs to be taken and with the depression that has dogged her for much of her life, rearing its ugly head, she starts to make irrational decisions.
At the same time, she gets to know Andrew, a Parsons author who the company is trying to woo with a new contract. He’s Nora’s polar opposite, sunny and posiitve, while she is all doom and gloom right now. But maybe he’s just what she needs, if she’s just able to sit up and take notice of the fact that she’s worthy of the attention.
Don’t mistake this book for a light, frothy rom-com. Although it does have a love story at its heart, I really felt that the central focus was one of self-love. Nora struggles, with so much, but she’s fully aware of it. What she doesn’t seem aware of is how others view her – she’s too busy projecting her diminished sense of self out to the world to understand that she has every right to stand up tall and take her place in it.
Shauna Robinson gently deals with some big themes here: depression, thoughts of suicide, race, bigotry in the workplace. But this book is not dark and joyless at all. It’s a genuine look at what it takes to look deep inside of yourself to discover who you are and what makes you tick, what gives you your spark. It’s thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended!
Jan's Book Buzz 
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