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A bold, witty, and richly observant debut following one woman's sharp-elbowed quest to claim a place claim among the fashion and media elite.
At the turn of the millennium, editorial assistant Clodagh “Clo” Harmon wants nothing more than to rise through the ranks at the world's most prestigious fashion magazine. There's just one problem: she doesn't have the right pedigree. Instead, Clo is a “workhorse” surrounded by beautiful, wealthy, impossibly well-connected “show horses” who get ahead without effort, including her beguiling cubicle-mate Davis Lawrence, the daughter of a beloved, but fading, Broadway actress. Harry Wood, Davis's boarding school classmate and a reporter with visions of his own media empire, might be Clo's ally in gaming the system—or he might be the only thing standing between Clo and her rightful place at the top.
In a career punctuated by moments of high absurdity, sudden windfalls, and devastating reversals of fortune, Clo wades across boundaries, taking ever greater and more dangerous risks to become the important person she wants to be within the confines of a world where female ambition remains cloaked. But who really is Clo underneath all the borrowed designer clothes and studied manners, and who are we if we share her desires?
Wickedly funny and insightful, Workhorse is a brilliant page-turner about what it means to be in thrall to wealth, beauty and influence and the outrageous sacrifices women must make for the sake of success.
At the turn of the millennium, editorial assistant Clodagh “Clo” Harmon wants nothing more than to rise through the ranks at the world's most prestigious fashion magazine. There's just one problem: she doesn't have the right pedigree. Instead, Clo is a “workhorse” surrounded by beautiful, wealthy, impossibly well-connected “show horses” who get ahead without effort, including her beguiling cubicle-mate Davis Lawrence, the daughter of a beloved, but fading, Broadway actress. Harry Wood, Davis's boarding school classmate and a reporter with visions of his own media empire, might be Clo's ally in gaming the system—or he might be the only thing standing between Clo and her rightful place at the top.
In a career punctuated by moments of high absurdity, sudden windfalls, and devastating reversals of fortune, Clo wades across boundaries, taking ever greater and more dangerous risks to become the important person she wants to be within the confines of a world where female ambition remains cloaked. But who really is Clo underneath all the borrowed designer clothes and studied manners, and who are we if we share her desires?
Wickedly funny and insightful, Workhorse is a brilliant page-turner about what it means to be in thrall to wealth, beauty and influence and the outrageous sacrifices women must make for the sake of success.
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Reviews
"A fierce, funny, and unflinching examination of ambition, class, and the quiet indignities of being underestimated. You certainly don't need to have worked in fashion to appreciate Palmer's razor-sharp and deliciously wry observations about the industry"
but as someone who did, I both adored and applaud her honesty."
"Workhorse is a sly, fun, and astutely observed novel about what happens when one young woman's ambition runs amok. Caroline Palmer transports you to the world of glossy magazines in the early 2000s, back when the going was good"
the expense accounts, the parties, the fashion
"A fast-paced and funny examination of ambition and its consequence"
The New York Times