In Office Hours by Lucy Kellaway Book Review

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (February 7, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446565695
• ISBN-13: 978-0446565691 
• Buy now at Amazon

SUMMARY:

In Office Hours is the story of Stella and Bella, two intelligent working women who each fall for impossible lovers - at work. Kellaway's keen observations on the way in which affairs move from state to state are a sort of masterclass in office love, bringing to life both the excitement of illicit romance and the ridiculousness of business behavior and language with a sharp sense of humor.

In Office Hours is intelligent, funny, moving and agonizing, but it's also so painfully recognizable to any woman who has ever worked in an office or ever been in love. Kellaway hits a real nerve with her depictions of how people come to get into the emotional messes that we do and then how very difficult it is to get out again.



My Review:

4 stars out of 5

This book is about the affairs that go on in the workplace.  It contains a mixture of sex, office politics and power in the workplace.  Statistically, 1/4 of workplace employees has an extramarital affair at the office. This book is set at a UK-based oil company. 

What I liked best about this book is how author, Lucy Kellaway broke down the sections of this book into 3 parts:  "Temptation, Addiction and Withdrawal."  This book follows Bella and Stella, both from each end of the power spectrum in the company, and describes how each woman tries to balance the demands of work with their personal family life.  Instead of fighting off temptation, both women give in and have affairs at the workplace.  Many affairs happen in the workplace for power reasons, and not just love and affection.  And, this book discusses this. 

I would not recommend this book to anyone who's spouse had an affair, as you would not enjoy this read.  But, even with the subject matter of office affairs, I found this to be a good book.  I love Kellaway's writing style, and the storyline moved along at a great pace.

About the Author:

Lucy Kellaway is the FT's management columnist.  She lives in London and is married with four children. She is the author of Martin Lukes: Who Moved My Blackberry?


Disclosure:  I was given a copy of this book from the Hachette Book Group, in order to write up an honest review.  The views above are mine and mine alone.