Everything’s Fine

How does a bright girl raised with socialistic values end up at Goldman Sachs with burning ambition to be the best trader, values be damned? She soon discovers that her university nemesis is also working there and is much closer to the power structure and the upward climb in salary and prestige.

The main character is Jessica Jones, called Jess, and her nemesis is Josh; similarly named but Jess is stymied by her gender. Her facility with numbers is questioned, culminating in her own doubts about her acumen. Josh seems to be so much better at his job and the politics therein.

Strangely enough, this financial tale is also a love story. Jessica is smart enough to distrust the power establishment and maintain her emotional distance from any reliance on trust and faith in others. This is a debut novel from a writer who knows quite a lot about data and analytics, and how to tell a good and original story.