Book 45: "Cordial and Corrosive" by Sophie Hannah

[kittiwake]

I am going to tell you a story about a job interview. Job interviews play a vital role in almost all our lives. My question is this: why do more people want to read about murder than about job interviews? Your answer is this: because we are interested in extreme events, extreme emotions. These are more likely to surround a murder than a job interview. My response is this: oh yeah? Wait and see.

Kate Nunn is a driving instructor living in Cambridge, whose husband is trying and failing to obtain an academic job after finishing his PhD. When Sebastian fails to get a prestigious fellowship enmity at Summerton College Cambridge, and the successful candidate (whose mother-in-law just happened to be on the interview panel) has the gall to say she wants two weeks to decide as she has also been offered a job in Reading (Reading!), Kate decided that it is up to her to ensure that Sebastian gets the job.

I really enjoyed reading about Kate's increasingly devious attempts to persuade the first and second placed candidates to turn down the job, while also digging up dirt on the members of the interview panel and trying to find out exactly why Sebastian's prospects changed from almost being offered the job one evening to coming in third place the next morning.