Bond Girl: A Novel [Hardcover]

Erin Duffy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 24, 2012

When other little girls were dreaming about becoming doctors or lawyers, Alex Garrett set her sights on conquering the high-powered world of Wall Street. And though she's prepared to fight her way into an elitist boys' club, or duck the occasional errant football, she quickly realizes she's in over her head when she's relegated to a kiddie-size folding chair with her new moniker—Girlie—inscribed in Wite-Out across the back.

No matter. She's determined to make it in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of the Street's most esteemed brokerage firms. Keeping her eyes on the prize, the low Girlie on the totem pole will endure whatever comes her way—whether trekking to the Bronx for a $1,000 wheel of Parmesan cheese; discovering a secretary's secret Friday night slumber/dance party in the conference room; fielding a constant barrage of "friendly" practical jokes; learning the ropes from Chick, her unpredictable, slightly scary, loyalty-demanding boss; babysitting a colleague while he consumes the contents of a vending machine on a $28,000 bet; or eluding the advances of a corporate stalker who's also one of the firm's biggest clients.

Ignoring her friends' pleas to quit, Alex excels (while learning how to roll with the punches and laugh at herself) and soon advances from lowly analyst to slightly-less-lowly associate. Suddenly, she's addressed by her real name, and the impenetrable boys' club has transformed into forty older brothers and one possible boyfriend. Then the apocalypse hits, and Alex is forced to choose between sticking with Cromwell Pierce as it teeters on the brink of disaster or kicking off her Jimmy Choos and running for higher ground.

Fast-paced, funny, and thoroughly addictive, Bond Girl will leave you cheering for Alex: a feisty, ambitious woman with the spirit to stand up to the best (and worst) of the boys on the Street—and ultimately rise above them all.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

After a childhood introduction to the fast-paced world of Wall Street, sweetly naive Alex has landed a position at one of the finance industry’s most prestigious firms. Instead of being guided through the finer points of bond trading, however, Alex is initially given tasks mostly centered on taking lunch orders and keeping everyone’s nicknames straight. As she is accorded more responsibility, the realities of the financial industry and the mostly male egos around her conspire to make her job a little more difficult than she anticipated. Like The Devil Wears Prada (2003) set on Wall Street, Duffy’s first novel is a sharp, witty look at the intricacies of the trading floor and the people who populate it. The writing is clever and articulate, and Alex’s story of personal growth makes her a sympathetic, likable heroine. Filled with too-good-to-be-true anecdotes and enough of a biting, cynical bent to offset the chick-lit romance angle, Bond Girl is a fun read-alike to the canons of Weisberger, Kinsella, and Green. Duffy’s acknowledgment of the recent financial collapse and ensuing recession makes Bond Girl an entertaining and timely read. --Stephanie Turza

Review

“I’m crazy about Bond Girl. Erin Duffy is a fresh, funny, and fabulous new voice in literature.…Great story. Delicious debut.” (Adriana Trigiani, author of Lucia, Lucia and Brava, Valentine )

“Despite financial details that may make your head spin and a workplace that will make your stomach churn, Duffy’s fresh take on the single-in-the-city tale does a terrific job of reviving chick lit (not every girl works in publishing or PR, after all).” (Library Journal (starred review) )

“A compelling, fun read.” (Kirkus on BOND GIRL )

“Duffy’s first novel is a sharp, witty look at the intricacies of the trading floor and the people who populate it. The writing is clever and articulate, and Alex’s story of personal growth makes her a sympathetic, likable heroine…an entertaining and timely read.” (Booklist on BOND GIRL )

“Bond Girl is a sparkling debut, smart and snappy but never weighed down by financial terminology. Who knew Wall Street could be this much fun? A-” (Entertainment Weekly on BOND GIRL )

“Writing with an addictively acerbic sense of humor, Duffy gives readers a sassy new heroine and an unforgettable tour of financial trading.” (Chicago Tribune )

“Told in first person in Alex’s voice — and what an appealing voice it is, one that makes Alex likable from the first page — “Bond Girl” is a smartly written comic novel that’s great fun to read.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch )

“If you’re looking for a great weekend retreat or a great book for the beach, look for this one. For any woman who’s ever had a love-hate-detest relationship with a job Bond Girl is truly perfect.” (Wisconsin Rapids Tribune on BOND GIRL )

“Bond Girl is a witty and very racy...Trust me, you won’t be bored with this Wall Street story.” (Washington Post )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; Reprint edition (January 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780062065896
• ISBN-13: 978-0062065896
• ASIN: 0062065890
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (144 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Erin Duffy graduated from Georgetown University in 2000 with a B.A. in English and went on to spend more than a decade working in fixed income sales on Wall Street. Bond Girl is her first novel.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Bond Girl December 17, 2011

By Leeanna Chetsko VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The synopsis for "Bond Girl" made it an instant pick for me; usually I carefully go through all my Amazon Vine choices, and whittle them down book by book. But as I have an interest in finance and business, I immediately selected this book. Alex is a pretty plucky protagonist, and I liked her voice from page one. She's sarcastic, and I could see a lot of myself in her. And even though Alex is fictional, I envied her, especially for the money she made!

For the most part, I enjoyed "Bond Girl." I carried it everywhere with me until I finished it. The book is a pretty quick read, and while Alex works on Wall Street, it doesn't delve too deeply into her actual job. So if you're looking for a light read, this may be it for you.

That was one of my problems with the book. Because I picked it for my interest in Wall Street, I would have liked to see more of Alex's actual job. For example, she has to take the Series 7, 63, and 3 exams (required by the Securities and Exchange Commission) to speak with clients and execute trades. But they are only mentioned twice -- once when her boss tells her she has to pass them the first time, and then when she gives him the paper saying she passed them all. I would have liked to hear more about them, such as how she found time to study while working, or some of the material on them.

Financial terms are dropped here and there, and I can't say if this is an accurate look into a brokerage firm (somehow, I doubt it), but it is a funny one. There were times when I was laughing while reading, and others were I kept thinking "Really??" Alex, who decided she wanted to work in "The Business" at the age of eight, joins a sort of "Boys Only" club when she starts working at Cromwell Pierce. There is a lot of sexism in the book -- Alex's nickname at work is "Girlie," and there's more than one mention that she should avoid becoming fat, and so on. Eventually after a hazing period, she's accepted by most of her co-workers, and they become something like big brothers. You won't believe some of the absurd things they get up to. Once, when she's late for work, Alex's "punishment" is to buy a $984.61 fifty pound cheese wheel. Another time, one of her co-workers takes on a $28,000 bet to eat the contents of a vending machine in one day.

If you're looking for a how or why on the 2008 financial crisis, that isn't in this book. But there an "on the front lines" view, where Alex watches her co-workers disappear without warning, and she herself has to make some difficult decisions.

At first, I found the writing style to be a little much (tons of adjectives in every sentence, especially in the prologue), but then I got used to it and enjoyed it. I tend to like more description than less, and the quick pace of the book also matches the content. Sometimes, though, "Bond Girl" moves too quickly, but I think that is due to some extreme cutting. Based on the author's notes, the manuscript was originally 700 pages, and the final published version will be around 300.

There's some romance, which I could personally have done without, but at least there wasn't the all too common love triangle. The ending did leave me hanging, and I was left wondering what Alex's next step will be.

All of that said, "Bond Girl" will go in my re-read pile. I wanted to *be* Alex, and for me, that's the sign of a good book. I also found the cover eye-catching, a picture of a Louboutin on top of the Wall Street Journal.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the Amazon Vine program.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm Sure I've Read This Before February 21, 2012

By Chess Queen

Format:Hardcover

All I can say about Erin Duffy's Bond Girl is that it's just average. Anyone thinking they are going to gain some insight into Wall Street is sorely mistaken. Of course, the book doesn't promise to do this even though Duffy spent ten years working in sales on the Street. No, this book is run-of-the-mill chick lit. A genre that I believe is sorely in need of a creativity infusion stat.

Bond Girl is about Alex Garrett, a young woman who has dreamed of working on Wall Street ever since visiting her investment banker father's office when she was a little girl. After graduating from college, she accepts a job at Cromwell Pierce, one of the most prestigious firms on the Street and it's nothing like she imagined.

Like all the newbies before her, she starts her career as the team gofer - grabbing lunches and lattes for the guys and doing the work no one else wants to do. Instead of calling her by her name, they call her Girlie and she doesn't even have her own desk. Because she's new, she doesn't have any clients; therefore, she doesn't bring in any money and desks, according to her boss, are for people who bring money into the firm which is why she is reduced to sitting on a folding chair. Makes perfect sense, right?

One of my grievances is the fact that the book is full of chick lit clichés. You have the working girl trying to make it in New York. Usually these girls work in publishing, instead Alex works on Wall Street but the gangs all there. There's the older woman who instead of being a mentor turns out to be really bitter and horrible; there's the excessive drinking and smoking, along with the wondering if she's fat or simply not good enough; there's the insanely demanding boss/job as well as the cute guy who may or may not be the man of her dreams. It's as if Duffy was working from a checklist.

The one thing that could have made Bond Girl stand out is its Wall Street setting. Had Duffy gone into a little more detail about that, it might have saved the book especially since so many people are hankering for insight into its goings-on. All that I learned was that Wall Street is run by self-indulgent frat boys (there has to be more going on than that ... or maybe not). She writes about the guys getting hammered, pulling pranks, making stupid bets, eating fat lunches, throwing around lots and lots of money, and being sexist pigs. It's men behaving badly; not only do the men find this acceptable but so does Alex. I hated the fact that she was far too willing to put up with Neanderthal behavior. She feels that in order for her to be accepted by her male co-workers she has to put up with it. I can understand that reasoning to a point but why write a book about Alex if at the end of the day, there is nothing remarkably clever or spunky about her. The guys in her group call her a go-getter, but I really saw no evidence of this. To me, she just went along to get along.

Bond Girl is at best a 2 star book. It's stereotypical chick lit; there's nothing likable or different about Alex, the situations she finds herself in aren't particularly interesting or unique, and there's nothing romantic about her budding relationship with co-worker Will. Everything in Bond Girl has been done before and so much better in other books.

28 of 38 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Fresh, Hip Nor Funny November 11, 2011

By Dianne E. Socci-Tetro TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Bond Girl: A Novel By: Erin Duffy

This book is being advertised as "The Devil Wears Prada meets Wall Street" and that is true. In fact, it is so true that if you have already read "The Devil Wears Prada" you won't need to use any of your free time on this book. This book is not "fresh", not "hip" nor is it even remotely funny. It was sad and depressing and you could see the ending coming a mile away, and no I don't mean the financial crash. The only thing you may find interesting about this book is the brief, extremely brief look into the workings of a bond department.

The relationship between Alex and Will was so obvious from the beginning that I would be amazed if anyone is surprised as to how it all works out in the end. This relationship did not show me that this was a "smart" book nor did it prove that Alex was a smart woman.

You learn nothing about finance/bonds/or trading and if you are using this book to educate yourself in a fun and easy waya bit---don't.

The similarities between "The Devil Wears Prada" are spooky. I think that the only thing missing in Bond Girl is that Alex's mentor is not gay