Pages - 352 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**purchased**
Four women learn their boss (a man who’s always been surrounded by rumors about how he treats women) is next in line to be CEO—what will happen when they decide enough is enough?
Sloane, Ardie, Grace, and Rosalita are four women who have worked at Truviv, Inc., for years. The sudden death of Truviv's CEO means their boss, Ames, will likely take over the entire company. Ames is a complicated man, a man they’ve all known for a long time, a man who’s always been surrounded by...whispers. Whispers that have always been ignored by those in charge. But the world has changed, and the women are watching Ames’s latest promotion differently. This time, they’ve decided enough is enough.
Sloane and her colleagues set in motion a catastrophic shift within every floor and department of the Truviv offices. All four women’s lives—as women, colleagues, mothers, wives, friends, even adversaries—will change dramatically as a result.
"If only you had listened to us,” they tell us on page one, “none of this would have happened."
Chandler Baker's writing is something that stood out to me. The pacing is part of what propels the reader to keep turning the pages. The parts that are supposed to be a bit snarky and funny hit just as hard as the mystery elements do. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what else this particular author writes in the future.
The book gets its title from a list that gets passed from woman to woman. It is a list of men and their bad behaviour towards women. It is a warning device so that women may be aware and used as a means to protect each other. I could instantly recognize the versions of this list that I have experienced in my own life - actual whispers to not be alone with this man, mentions of misdeeds from others. Women use things like this all over the world and I expect a large majority of us has had some form of warning like this while in the work place. This part of the novel, and the examination of the things women experience and put themselves through in the work place was what made the book work for me. The little aggressions about how women are supposed to balance careers and motherhood while still looking good and being sexy is something that will resonate with plenty of readers. It also highlights the ways in which we grapple with guilt or the lack thereof about everything from motherhood to relationships or how we feel about ourselves and others and how we think we should feel.
The books construction from its characters to the mystery at the heart of the book felt very similar to Big Little Lies to me. There are obvious differences but that comparison is there. I do think that the order in which someone reads them may impact their enjoyment. If you were experiencing this without having previously read Big Little Lies I expect your impression of this book would be quite different.
I could easily see this being a limited television series. I kept casting people in my head as I was reading. I kept picturing Richard Madden as Ames (it's probably the grey/white stripe in the hair). One of the characters felt perfect for Reese Whiterspoon to play and I kept picturing another as Nicole Kidman. This could be because of the previously mentioned similarities to Big Little Lies however. It is, however, something that you could easily see one of the streaming services picking up.
While I enjoyed The Whisper Network I did find myself not as invested due to similarities to other books I had read. The elements that set it apart were the most fascinating parts of the story and the writing itself ensured I remained invested. I do recommend it, and think it makes for a great book club pick. I particularly recommend it to those who may not read as much from this genre as I think they'll really enjoy it.
