‘Two letters
Four lives
It’s time to take sides’
The Fallout is a novel by Irish writer Margaret Scott.
Published by Poolbeg Press in 2018 The Fallout is set against the backdrop of the banking crisis in Dublin in 2011.
I was lucky enough to receive my copy from the author in return for my honest review.
‘International Financial Services Centre, Dublin, 2011.
The dust has barely settled on the banking crisis when two letters arrive in the offices of German Commercial Bank DKB.
Kate O’Brien joined the bank one month earlier after a short break to have her children. Kate doesn’t want stress or drama, she just wants to do her job and go home. But Kate might not be the only one with an agenda.
Mary Lawlor has worked at DKB long enough to be able to see that it’s happening again, and this time she won’t stand for it. She is sick of being taken advantage of and it’s got to stop.
Leona Blake has a job to do and is going to do it no matter what the cost. Only now, as her whole world starts to implode does she finally realise that the price just might have been too high.
Olivia Sharpe is finally writing things down. Now is her chance to take control of her life again and get closure for both herself and her children. What happened to her was wrong and someone needs to pay. Don’t they?
My Review:
The Fallout is a very unique novel, in that it is not just a book about the banking crisis but it is also a book about women.
Set in a fictional bank in Dublin’s Financial Services Centre, we are introduced into the lives of four women, all trying to balance their work/life relationships. All very ambitious women, Mary, Kate, Leona and Olivia, all with very different agendas in life.
The book opens with the arrival of two letters which shake everything up in the bank.
‘Bad news still always arrives by post’
Nervous tension sweeps through all departments and Margaret Scott introduces us to all the people involved, We are taken on a journey through the previous actions taken in the bank as the stress & pressure to survive increased daily through a period of banking history that shook up the whole financial industry.
The story is told through the eyes of the four main characters of the book and what makes it so interesting is the perspective that each person has on the same situation.
Human nature has a strange way of displaying right and wrong. The frustrations and anxieties of people distort how messages are relayed and put into practice.
With every action that is taken, there is a reaction….and with this reaction there is a Fallout…
Having worked in business with women through my own career, I can identify with all these women. They have been my friends.
Leona, is represented as the tough boss, the one who will walk over anyone and anything to achieve her ultimate goal. With Leona it is a question of the ‘Survival of the Fittest’. But Leona is a duck in a pond. What’s going on beneath the surface is a very different story and Leona has her own secrets to keep.
Mary is the single girl. Ambitious, with an element of jealousy, Mary is quite bitter. She is sick of covering for the ‘mothers’ in her department and feels she is being overlooked, overworked and stuck in her position. She has given everything to the bank but yet she is never content in her life.
Kate is the mother returning to the workplace. Kate is looking to prove that she still has what it takes to survive in the cutthroat world of banking and business. As time proves though, Kate soon realises that all is not as she imagined it would be.
Olivia has left the bank under rather mysterious circumstances. As the story unfolds, we learn of the stress and emotional trauma that Olivia endured during her time with the bank. Also a mother, Olivia decides to finally regain control of her life and deals with her departure in the best way she knows how.
The Fallout gives the reader an insight into the daily pressures of the working mother in an industry that looks for all or nothing. An industry that doesn’t take kindly to sick children or tired mothers.
Is it possible for women to have it all??
There is a sacrifice to be paid.
Family
Relationships
Love
Mental Health
Something has to give and as Margaret Scott portrays so well in this book, no one person can truly have it all.
The Fallout is a great read told from a perspective we rarely hear about.
I would highly recommend it if you are looking for something a bit different. It is not a psychological thriller nor is it an obvious crime novel.
What it is though is a book that shows the effect, both mentally and physically, of a demanding job in the banking industry, in a time fraught with scandal and regrets.
The victims in The Fallout are the women, trying to prove they can have it all in an industry where family is not recognised and money means everything.
Purchase Link ~ The Fallout
Meet Margaret:
Margaret Scott lives in Kildare with her husband Keith Darcy, two little girls, Isabelle and Emily, one-year-old Michael and an assortment of pets.
An accountant by day, her first book Between you and Me was published by Poolbeg Press in 2013 and enjoyed several weeks in the ROI top ten Bestsellers list.
Twitter ~ @mgtscott
What a great review. I also loved this book.
Thanks Orla and thanks for the recommendation. xx