After working on Wall Street for 10 years, Erin Duffy appears to have written an exposé of the bond trading world masquerading as a work of fiction. Bond Girl is glamorous and deliciously hilarious; more important, Duffy offers both an insider's look and a female perspective on some of the lesser known elements of life on "The Street."
As a sales assistant at the fictional Manhattan firm of Cromwell Pierce, Alex (the titular bond girl) learns that chivalry is dead. Her sexist colleagues badger her relentlessly, commenting on her weight, sending her out for countless pizzas and attempting to peg her in the face with a football.
Alex and her motley crew of co-workers sell a few bonds over the course of the novel, but business takes a backseat to side-splitting pranks--like the bet compelling a co-worker to eat the entire contents of a vending machine. Scenes like these seem so unbelievable, you can't help but hope they're true.
Duffy weaves her narrative skillfully, offering a wickedly decadent glimpse into a male-dominated world of excess. A subplot in which Alex has to avoid the disturbing advances of a creepy bigwig client reminds us she's still a woman trying not to step on any Armani loafers in a masculine domain. But she ultimately earns their respect and friendship--and she does it in heels, no less. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend