Workhorse

"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." - Coco Mellors

"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 - while weaving in a suspenseful story about an assistant who will do anything in her power to move up on the masthead. It was propulsive, surprising, and fun. I ate it up." - Emma Rosenblum

"A fast-paced and funny examination of ambition and its consequence." - The New York Times

"Former fashion editor Palmer renders Clo's world in vivid, gritty detail alongside sharp commentary on class, ambition, and women's roles in the publishing industry." - Booklist

"For a novel to convincingly and all at once evoke Brideshead Revisited, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Six Degrees of Separation, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and yes, The Great Gatsby is several feats - of storytelling panache, of plot architecture, of thematic cohesion, and of provocative inquiry into the human heart. This thrilling, page turning, and deeply absorbing novel is an anthropological treatise on a lost New York at just slightly past the peak of American capitalism. A love letter to and post-mortem of the magazine industry, Workhorse beautifully captures the pressure on women to achieve distinction amidst male control of power, while highlighting the tension between personal lives and career aspirations." - Matthew Thomas

"Palmer's expertly observed tale dissects the haves and have nots who populate a brutal world, and leaves readers wondering just what they would do if they had Clo's ability - and her opportunity to get ahead." - Town & Country