The Anxiety of Everyday Objects

Winona Bartlett, secretary at a New York City law firm, has secret dreams of a more creative career—to be more than a “non-filmmaking filmmaker.” Nevertheless, she admits to finding a sense of security—even delight—from the basic rules and rituals of white-collar servitude. Then one day, into her coffee-making, dictation-taking world walks Sandy Spires, a beautiful, commanding—and blind—lawyer who joins the firm and inspires Winona to renew work on her long-languishing film. Meanwhile, Winona’s love life is a mess: Her relationship with Jeremy the Sincere is doomed, her other dates are always disasters, and she stubbornly ignores the attentions of her engaging colleague, Rex. Just as Winona hits bottom romantically and also realizes Sandy is not who she’s pretending to be, she comes to understand that she might need to take a more honest look at herself.The Great American Secretary’s novel meets The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman, this charming, inspiring and wonderfully written portrait of the dynamics of office life speaks to every woman who has felt caught between duty and her heart’s desire.