This read like The Devil Wears Prada set in Hollywood, as she starts off thinking that this is a job to tide her over, get her mother to stop bugging her and then she’ll get a real job. I told myself that someday, when I had enough power that people cared what I had to say, I would make a stand for what was right.

I am the product of years of social conditioning, still inclined to make other people feel comfortable, regardless of my own discomfort. But the truth is that I feel most comfortable and empowered on the page, expressing myself at a safe distance and after extended reflection. Will I try to convince myself that if they are interested in supporting a critique of Hollywood, the ends will justify the means?Rumours start to circulate around the office that there are sexual predators working amongst them and the realisation sets in that there is a lot to lose by speaking out and plenty to gain by staying quiet. I heard sexist and racist comments and fumed silently, exchanging outraged instant messages with other assistants. So when you land a job in television, you're ready for anything: pulling all-nighters, leaning on your powerful mother's contacts, keeping your boss happy whatever - and whoever - the cost. She gets a job in an agency through family connections – her mother is a well known, ball-bustin’ lawyer.

Isabel Kaplan’s forthcoming debut novel, Not Safe For Work, follows an ambitious young woman trying to succeed in the entertainment industry without selling her soul. I left my job at the TV network to go to graduate school, during which time I wrote a novel about a Hollywood assistant and the slippery slope of complicity. It was woven through the main plotline and definitely added depth to the origins of her insecurities and vulnerability. You will work whenever you are asked to, you’ll do whatever you’re asked to, you won’t complain, you’ll wait your turn for promotion and most importantly for the females; you’ll stay looking pretty. I do not miss any of the above, but I did appreciate the reminder and the confirmation that it happens to most of us.I felt personally that I’m just a little bit out of the age range for this as some of the situations in the book were fairly obviously on the way and she just didn’t seem to pick up on the cues. With her sun-bleached Hollywood setting, Kaplan transports us to another world - one which is achingly familiar. Maybe that’s the fun of it – sitting on the couch, internally/externally willing someone to spot the creep(s).

A book that leaves you pondering and gives great social commentary on the glass ceiling that very much still exists between women and equality in both the workplace and life, is always an excellent read. I also knew he had passed on projects I advocated for because of their “narrow” focus on mostly women.I loved that the ambiguous ending flipped things onto you and made you think about what you would do if you were ever faced with an unfair, difficult situation. A novel which makes us examine our own complicity, while also weaving in threads of tenderness, drive and office-based humour which at times feels delightfully absurd .