Careers for Women by Joanna Scott 4,25/5 French: No translation has been announced. Summary New York in the late 1950s. A city, and a world, on the cusp of change. Maggie Gleason is looking toward the future. Part of a mid-century wave of young women seeking new lives in New York City, Maggie works for legendary Port Authority public relations maven Lee K. Jaffe--affectionately known to her loyal staff as Mrs. J. Having left Cleveland, Maggie has come to believe that she can write any story for herself that she imagines. Pauline Moreau is running from the past--and a shameful secret. She arrives in the city on the brink of despair, saddled with a young daughter who needs more love, attention, and resources than Pauline can ever hope to provide. Seeing that Pauline needs a helping hand, Mrs. J tasks Maggie with befriending, and looking after, Pauline. As the old New York gives way to the new, and Mrs. J's dream of the world's largest skyscraper begins to rise from the streets of lower Manhattan, Pauline--with the aid of Maggie and Mrs. J--also remakes herself. But when she reignites the scandal that drove her to New York, none of their lives will ever be the same. Maggie must question everything she thought she knew about love, work, ambition, and family to discover the truth about the enigmatic, strong woman she thought she had rescued. My review My mother is a naturally picky person. She has a very precise type of novel that she likes, and when she has a connection with an author she will read everything from them. She has read every single Margaret Atwood novel. She adores Louise Penny and Joyce Carol Oates. From this short list, you can tell that she likes mysteries, creepy stories but also books with strong female protagonists. As per usual, I bought her a book for Christmas like I do with all my immediate family members. Every year, I try to find something that would please the recipient, but it needs to be something that they would not buy for themselves otherwise what’s the point of gift-giving? I had never heard of Careers for Women, but when I saw it laying randomly on a table it just called to me. The title made it sound like some exposé on women in the workplace, and I did not bother reading the summary before I bought it (stupid move, I know). She just finished reading What Happened by Hillary Clinton so she was on a feminist literature high. After she unwrapped her gift, she started reading it only to find it is not AT ALL about the difficulties of women in the workplace or sexism. The title is fake news to attract readers more than to accurately represent the story. Careers for Women is, on the surface, about the disappearance of Pauline Moreau, a secretary for the New York Port Authority in the 1950s, and the attempts of her “friend” and fellow colleague, Maggie, to find her. The novel puts back piece by piece the events that lead through the “big reveal”, going back and forth between the present, past and future and between different characters at these different times. It is occasionally hard to follow considering the overlapping timelines and the variety of characters that change sometimes in the same chapters, but it is entirely worth it. The focus is not necessarily on the “who did it?” but more on the “why did they do it?” The characters are masterfully fleshed out, so much so you can easily pity them like Maggie does. Maggie was the most interesting of them all. She strives for her boss’ approval, the famous Lee K. Jaffe who did actually rule the Port Authority’s Public Relations department, and when she asks her to befriend her protégé Pauline whom she saved from being arrested for prostitution, Maggie does not hesitate even if she does not particularly enjoy Pauline’s presence. In the American 50s, where everything women did was being judged and judging others, Maggie is friendly towards Pauline but can’t help but feel uneasy around her like she can’t forget her past although Moreau has clearly moved on. Yet, she does not hesitate to take care of Pauline’s daughter, Sonia. Maggie pities Pauline but it is mixed with the desire to respect the promise she made to Jaffe to take care of Pauline and an unprecedented level of compassion and love for little Sonia. There is a very polished quality about Careers for Women.Every single detail feels thought-out but without any awkward foreshadowing. It seems like Scott embodied the expectations of women in the 50s: classy, refined and collected. Except she adds a good dose of honesty and frankness to the mix which makes Careers for Women almost like Maggie’s diary. The reading experience is smooth and silky, everything shines, from the windows of Downtown NYC to the glitter in Sonia’s eyes. It is not a poetic novel, in fact, Scott writes in a very straight-forward manner, but it is like a nice rock that you find on the beach, not necessarily pretty but perfectly smoothed by the waves and soft to the touch like a baby’s skin. It is not of these novels that you will remember forever, but the simplicity of its content is in symbiosis with the richness of the form, like a rock made of simple minerals or mineraloids who would be nothing if they were not arranged together by an elaborate assemblage of chemical bonds or by years of underground pressure. Looking back on it, Careers for Women does carry a strong message for single mothers and throws us back to a time where women were glad to work for their independence. It reminds us of the sacrifices our mothers did to raise us as well as they could. With Mother’s Day coming soon (you’re welcome, I know you forgot), Careers for Women is definitely a solid option for the woman in your life.
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