Monday, July 8, 2019

Books: "Breathe In, Cash Out" By Madeleine Henry





Breathe In, Cash Out
By Madeleine Henry
Atria Books Hardcover; $26.00; available July 9

Madeleine Henry worked at Goldman Sachs an in investment management in New York City after she graduated from Yale in 2014, where she wrote comedy for The Yale Record, America's oldest college humor magazine.


Henry's debut novel, Breathe In, Cash Out, focuses on Allegra Cobb knows what it's like to work at a top-tier investment bank - where twenty-one-year-olds make six figures, but the jobs are harder to come by than Harvard acceptances - but she feels like a fish out of water.

At heart, Allegra is a yogi in the middle of the most materialistic, uncentered, and appearance-obsessed place in the world, Wall Street, and she is leaving that life in a few months when her annual bonus comes in to pursue her yoga career full-time.

Two years before this, Allegra won the American Yoga National Competition, but she pushed her yoga practice aside in favor of her job. Now, she's finally ready to leave the world of finance, though she worries her hard-driving single father will be devastated by the drastic career switch.

When Skylar Smith, an Insta-famous yogi, sees Allegra's championship photos online and wants to mentor her, Allegra dives in wholeheartedly, even if it means meditating in the office bathroom, fasting  for days during the biggest deal of the century, and leaving work early for a flow. 

Allegra soon realizes that in navigating the demands of her similarly miserable coworkers, who argue about whose life sucks the most; her office romances, and Skylar's increasing progressiveness, her escape plan isn't as perfect as the exotic yoga photos she sees on Instagram.

Breathe In, Cash Out explores the unhealthy work/life balance of those working in finance, evoking this luxurious yet gritty world in juicy detail and tells the story of a fearless young woman on a journey to find her true self.

Author Appearance: Madeleine Henry will be at Book Culture, 450 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10024 (www.bookculture.com/event/columbus-breathe-cash-out-madeleine-henry) on Thursday, July 11 at 7:00 p.m.

No comments:

Post a Comment