Tuesday August 25

Having It All: A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan

By Jennifer Ridgway

Work-life balance is a constant refrain these days and a plethora of books are published every year tackling the subject from every angle possible, both for the fiction and nonfiction shelves. More than a decade ago, I Don't Know How She Does It hit the shelves and became a bestseller; in it, working mom Kate Reddy begins to question how to juggle her job as a hedge fund manager and a mother. Elisabeth Egan's debut novel, A Window Opens, brings this juggling act to the new, always-connected digital era.

Alice Pearse (a nice nod to I Don't Know How She Does It author Allison Pearson) seems to have found a pretty good balance. She works part-time as the books editor for a women's magazine in the city and is able to spend the other two days a week at home, taking her three children to school, swim classes, and play dates. This balance is completely shaken when her husband comes home to announce he has decided to leave his lucrative job at a big law firm after discovering he will not be appointed partner; his plan is to hang out his own shingle. In order for them to make ends meet while his practice launches and grows, Alice must go back to working full-time.

Alice ends up going to work at Scroll, a brand-new subsidiary of a giant corporation that builds suburban malls. Scroll's aim, as explained to Alice, is to create a haven for book lovers. Alice is brought in to manage relationships with publishers and authors as well as to help curate their title selection. Many of you, like me, may feel she has landed a book lover's dream job!

As Alice starts in her new role - filled with a new lexicon, new corporate culture, and being away from her children - Nick is struggling with his new venture, which causes tension in their relationship. Her father's cancer is back with no hope of remission or cure. And to make matters more challenging, Scroll is not the most forgiving of workplaces in regard to vacation and personal days and expectations outside of traditional work hours.

It is not really a spoiler to say that this all eventually comes to a head for Alice, and she is faced with difficult decisions. Many will be able to relate to the feelings of inadequacy at home and at work: women and men, parents and nonparents. Alice is a character who, despite her faults, is very relatable. She is smart, funny, and passionate. The characters around her are fully realized, as well, from her husband to her parents to her new boss to her children. I almost always felt the realism in the story; I recognized so many of the characters and their struggles from my own community of friends and former colleagues.

Egan has given us an enjoyable read about a universal topic. Just as I was a young, single woman without children when I read I Don't Know How She Does It, I hope readers beyond working mothers pick up A Window Opens. There are many other themes and topics for thought and discussion, including a celebration of books and the power of reading.

Also mentioned

I Don't Know How She Does It

by Allison Pearson

Delightfully smart and heartbreakingly poignant, Allison Pearson’s smash debut novel has exploded onto bestseller lists as “The national anthem for working mothers.” Hedge-fund manager,… Read more »