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A review by jennifer_c_s
Maybe The Horse Will Talk by Elliot Perlman
4.0
'I am absolutely terrified of losing a job I absolutely hate.'
Stephen Maserov used to be a teacher. He retrained as a lawyer to try to give his family financial security. He’s now a second-year lawyer for a big corporate law firm, Freely Savage Carter Blanche where he’s working impossible hours to try to make budget. His wife Eleanor, who supported him in his career move, has asked him to move out of the family home because of the hours he works.
Sigh. So, there’s Stephen, working in a job he knows he hates, generating income to pay a mortgage for a home he can’t live in, supporting his wife and two small children. And, if that’s not enough stress, he isn’t sure that he’ll make it into the ranks of the third-year lawyers.
Stephen is both desperate and resourceful. He needs to keep his job to pay his mortgage and he wants to salvage his marriage. He sees and seizes an opportunity.
‘Under the right circumstances, I can make your horse talk.’
Torrent Industries is a major client of Freely Savage Carter Blanche. Stephen manages to get himself seconded there for a year on the basis that he can make some claims of sexual harassment go away.
Can Stephen do this, and how?
To write more about what Stephen does (and how) could ruin the story for an intending reader. Suffice to say, Stephen is walking a tightrope here. Can he survive and maintain an ethical position? Will he be able to expose the corrupt corporate world of which he is a part? And what about his marriage?
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, with its descriptive prose and its humour. I admired the way in which Mr Perlman explored several contemporary issues.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Stephen Maserov used to be a teacher. He retrained as a lawyer to try to give his family financial security. He’s now a second-year lawyer for a big corporate law firm, Freely Savage Carter Blanche where he’s working impossible hours to try to make budget. His wife Eleanor, who supported him in his career move, has asked him to move out of the family home because of the hours he works.
Sigh. So, there’s Stephen, working in a job he knows he hates, generating income to pay a mortgage for a home he can’t live in, supporting his wife and two small children. And, if that’s not enough stress, he isn’t sure that he’ll make it into the ranks of the third-year lawyers.
Stephen is both desperate and resourceful. He needs to keep his job to pay his mortgage and he wants to salvage his marriage. He sees and seizes an opportunity.
‘Under the right circumstances, I can make your horse talk.’
Torrent Industries is a major client of Freely Savage Carter Blanche. Stephen manages to get himself seconded there for a year on the basis that he can make some claims of sexual harassment go away.
Can Stephen do this, and how?
To write more about what Stephen does (and how) could ruin the story for an intending reader. Suffice to say, Stephen is walking a tightrope here. Can he survive and maintain an ethical position? Will he be able to expose the corrupt corporate world of which he is a part? And what about his marriage?
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, with its descriptive prose and its humour. I admired the way in which Mr Perlman explored several contemporary issues.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith