Author: Erica Katz
The Boys’ Club is a debut novel by Erica Katz, a pseudonym for a real-life lawyer who tells the story of a large law company from New York and the way new lawyers get socialised into a large, global, prestigious firm.
Alexandra (Alex) is a fresh Harvard law school graduate who takes on a role in a prestigious law company from New York, which recruited her whilst she was still in law school. As part of her first year, she needs to choose which departments she wants to work with, and then new lawyers match up and permanently join a certain department. She initially puts retail and starts working with them, but her competitive nature makes her put merges and acquisitions (M&A) after she realises how prestigious and competitive it is to join that, male, department.
She gets her chance soon enough and starts working with the M&A and joins the boys’ club, which includes ridiculously long hours, staying in the office for days trying to close the deal and neglecting not just her personal life but also personal hygiene. The job also involves schmoozing clients, and it is quite clear, throughout the book, that Alex is developing alcoholism and drug addiction through after-work events (drinking) and because of the need to keep going with working non-stop (cocaine). What is particularly worrying in this book, and I have no doubt this is not an entirely fictitious book, is that people take pride in long hours, having no private life or having marital issues because of their work. They boast their bonuses, arguably the largest in the firm, but the reader wonders, what’s the point in all bonuses and millions with no time to enjoy that money? Also, wellbeing and work-life balance is something everyone knows has no place in M&A so people who choose other departments are seen as almost failures due to wanting to have life outside of work.
Banter is also masculine, and one needs to fit in, thus Alex does fine and befriends men she works with, but other women are not so lucky and end up having affairs at work, some also saying they felt they had no choice, or, in some cases, they fall in love with married senior lawyers who just use them and then throw them away. Alex also has an affair but of her own will and throughout the book, she truly becomes one of the boys due to her commitment to long hours and work-first attitude, along with an ability to join banter to the point she becomes a help call to one senior lawyer when he has marital issues, etc. However, on the positive side, I did not like the character of her boyfriend Sam and once a relationship falls apart due to Alex’s working hours, it does appear she spends slightly more time at home than she did before, so if there is a continuation of this book, maybe things will be different. In either case, the message I read is that sometimes people dig themselves in work because they are not happy at home, which is indeed true and happens more often than people realise.
Overall, The Boys’ Club shows some interesting aspects of office politics and the corporate world including how little things like how you eat lunch can affect a perception of you, which we all know matters when it comes to socialising with clients. The book also shows the issue of networking where only those willing to put their personal and private time aside go ahead in their careers, and thus networking is portrayed as what it is, a terrible corporate practice, which creates addiction and ruins wellbeing. Also, sexism, misogyny and sexual harassment are portrayed in this book very well, particularly despicable behaviour from clients and I ended up looking up when was this book published (2020) and wondering whether this still goes on despite the #metoo movement and all the positives that activism achieved.
The Boys’ Club is a good read, disturbing in some respects but it makes you really think about what happens in the corporate world and why things are not changing sufficiently enough.
Thank you for reading!