Break in Case of Emergency

A novel

De: Jessica Winter

Narrado por: Xe Sands

“A funny and moving commentary on that point in a woman's life when everything seems to come into question." —Camille Perri, The New York Times

"It's the superb insights and penetrating writing that make this book remarkable... An extraordinary debut." —The Guardian

"Enthralling, sharply observed" —Marie Claire

"Hilarious... The personal and workplace plots are woven together beautifully. Read, cringe, laugh, relate." —Lenny

"In this cutting commentary on workplace toxicity and how its tendrils can strangle relationships, Winter uses humor to illuminate the state of modern work, family, and friendship." —Elle.com

"Sassy, sarcastic and sleek, this is a wonderfully brash appraisal of how we live."—Colum McCann

One of Elle Magazine's 19 Summer Books That Everyone Will Be Talking About

One of Cosmo's Reads for July

One of Refinery29's Two New Books to Read in July by Brilliant Debut Authors


An irreverent and deeply moving comedy about friendship, fertility, and fighting for one’s sanity in a toxic workplace.

Jen has reached her early thirties and has all but abandoned a once-promising painting career when, spurred by the 2008 economic crisis, she takes a poorly defined job at a feminist nonprofit. The foundation’s ostensible aim is to empower women, but staffers spend all their time devising acronyms for imaginary programs, ruthlessly undermining one another, and stroking the ego of their boss, the larger-than-life celebrity philanthropist Leora Infinitas. Jen’s complicity in this passive-aggressive hellscape only intensifies her feelings of inferiority compared to her two best friends—one a wealthy attorney with a picture-perfect family, the other a passionately committed artist—as does Jen’s apparent inability to have a baby, a source of existential panic that begins to affect her marriage and her already precarious status at the office. As Break in Case of Emergency unfolds, a fateful art exhibition, a surreal boondoggle adventure in Belize, and a devastating personal loss conspire to force Jen to reckon with some hard truths about herself and the people she loves most.

Jessica Winter’s ferociously intelligent debut novel is a wry satire of celebrity do-goodism as well as an exploration of the difficulty of navigating friendships as they shift to accommodate marriage and family, and the unspoken tensions that can strain even the strongest bonds.

Great in the end.

At 1st this book was a little slow. After a bit I really enjoyed it. The story was about a women trying to balance a new job, infertility and life.

Loved it!

Witty, smart, well written, personally it was a very relatable narrative for me, thoroughly enjoyed!

Wonderful

This book is incredible. I found it a little slow in the middle, but otherwise it's funny and insightful and both the characters and the sentences are so well-wrought. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

Simpering females

I could not wait for this book to end- all the whiny females with no backbone made me crazy.

irritating

This book was a struggle. My entire book club hated it. The character was infuriating.