Not Safe For Work: Author of the viral essay 'My boyfriend, a writer, broke up with me because I am a writer'

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It was woven through the main plotline and definitely added depth to the origins of her insecurities and vulnerability. My plan was to work my way into the halls of power and then fling the doors open wide for those who had been excluded. I hadn’t spoken to him in years; he knew me when I was an assistant, and he was a very important executive. I was a teeny tiny bit disappointed with the open ending but hopefully it means that there may be more to come as I would love to read more about these characters and their lives. Do I actually care enough about these systemic issues or am I also, in a way, exploiting them as literary material for my own professional gain?

This summarises the theme of the book pretty well, as a Hollywood wannabe climbs the slippery slope to greatness. The writing is fresh and stylish and the conversational tone helps the thought-provoking narrative zip along. behind the glitter and the justice, everyone is tarnished and compromised - including even our narrator.A book that leaves you pondering and gives great social commentary on the glass ceiling that very much still exists between women and equality in both the workplace and life, is always an excellent read.

So visceral is the narrator's voice that every time I opened the book it felt like sliding into uncomfortable heels. I ran open-armed into a burning building hoping if I moved quickly enough, I’d be spared the flames.With her sun-bleached Hollywood setting, Kaplan transports us to another world - one which is achingly familiar.

Rumours start to circulate around the office that there are sexual predators working amongst them and the realisation sets in that there is a lot to lose by speaking out and plenty to gain by staying quiet. People previously unaware of the terms “implicit bias” and “microaggressions” have now attended training sessions about them and know that they are bad. When I started the job, one of the projects represented by my agency was under option with a production company where I knew a senior executive. When rumours of an assault start to circle the office, and your close friend confesses her own disturbing experience, you know there is plenty to gain from staying silent. When someone senior tells you how pretty you look, you smile and thank him – and make a mental note never to wear that dress alone with him again.

When whispers start to circle that your office might have ‘a bit of a rape problem,’ and your close friend confesses her own unsettling encounter, you know there is plenty to gain from staying silent, and all too much to lose through speaking out. My job straddles the worlds of Hollywood and publishing: I run book-to-screen development at a literary agency, which means I am responsible for identifying books that would be good for adaptation, whether as a movie or TV show, and then pitching and helping shepherd them from page to screen. A novel which makes us examine our own complicity, while also weaving in threads of tenderness, drive and office-based humour which at times feels delightfully absurd . I don’t know how the daughter (I keep saying daughter as she was unnamed in the book) kept her patience and was mostly able to stay polite and courteous as I think I would have cut ties very early on. Rape law and sexism were common dinner table topics in my childhood, and I knew about implicit bias before I knew about blowjobs.