Showing results by author "Polly Courtney" in All Categories

Abby is a high flyer. But she's not your average banker. Driven by something other than money and status, she has her own reasons for climbing the ladder. And so does Mike. An ambitious young graduate with an equally impressive CV, Mike is in it for the six-figure salaries and fast cars. He's got the skills, the grades and the swagger to make it all the way to the top. Based on the author's experiences as a junior investment banker, Golden Handcuffs is a fresh, gripping insight into life inside a Wall Street bank and what it really means to sell your soul to the City.

Growing up on a south London estate and excluded from every school that would take her, Alesha is the poster girl for the nation's 'feral youth'. When a young teacher makes an unexpected reappearance in the 15-year-old's life, opening the door to a world of salaries, pianos and middle-class housemates, Alesha's instinct is to pull up her hood and return to the streets. But fuelled by a need to survive, she falls into a cycle of crime, violence and drug dealing, her one true ally deserting her when she needs him most.

As a graduate of one of Poland's top universities, Marta has ambitious plans for her new life. But things don't work out as the young migrant had planned. Her qualifications are unpronounceable, let alone recognizable, and her new friends seem more interested in spending their cash than helping Marta make hers. As yet another door slams shut in her face, Marta finds herself alone in the English rain with a broken suitcase, no money and nowhere to go.

The truth is, it ain't just a race thing. They talk like it is, but really and truly it's black against white, young against old, authorities against the rest. It's countless of things. There's bare reasons for feeling vexed right now. Growing up on a south London estate and excluded from every school that would take her, Alesha is the poster girl for the nation's 'feral youth'.