Piece of Work - Laura Zigman

Piece of Work
Laura Zigman
Warner Books

Chick Lit

When Julia Einstein left her PR job on maternity leave, it was supposed to be temporary. But at the end her leave, she found that all she wanted was to stay home and raise her son. Now Leo is 3 years old, and Julia is still a happy stay-at-home mom. That is, until her husband is laid off, and it’s up to Julia to return to the workforce.

It’s never easy to return to work after a long absence, but it’s especially difficult when you’re several sizes larger than you were; and you’re used to spending your days conversing with a three-year-old. But Julia’s game, and she quickly lands a job at a firm that specializes in taking has-beens and making them relevant again. Julia is assigned to Mary Ford, a former movie star whose demanding nature is not at all unlike Leo’s. More problems arise when Mary’s comeback vehicle, a perfume, doesn’t sell. Then it gets out that the perfume was animal-tested, and predictable mayhem ensues. Fortunately, a few activists are nothing to a mom who’s used to handling preschool and play dates.

PIECE OF WORK is a fun, light, read. And, not for nothing, but it has one of the more amusing covers I’ve seen in quite a while. Julia is a little too super-mommy to be real, but she’s likeable and good at her job. There’s plenty of name-dropping going on, too. The cast of has-beens is large and very recognizable. The outcome is never in much doubt; it’s the journey to the outcome that makes it fun.

Rating: 7 ½
October 2006
ISBN# 0-446-57838-X (hardcover)