This New Year’s Eve, I was lucky enough to escape the horrors of Minnesota winter for a week-long trip to Fort Myers, Florida. The plan was to be either poolside or beach bumming every day. This forced relaxing meant I could finally finish reading The Partner Track by Helen Wan. As a romance novel enthusiast, and aspiring novelist myself, I like to read these books with a critical eye. I watch for scenes I would have done differently and stories that give female voices the depth they deserve.
What I loved about The Partner Track was the nuance that a Chinese-American woman in the legal field brings. While other white protagonist women I’ve read, have been minimized to surface-level personality traits, Ingrid Yung, was powerful, smart, and perfectly portrayed the struggle of being tokenized in the workspace.
Being a young professional myself, I look up to women leaders and Latinx co-workers in my workplaces. I feel lucky to be in a diverse space where I don’t feel the need to represent more than just myself. When the time is right, or I feel safe, I can speak from my experiences to enrich workplace outcomes.
Ingrid was the only woman to make it to her level of associate, making her an “only.” Being an only is isolating. When I interned as a web developer a few summers ago, I was the only woman (and only POC) on my team. The tech industry continues to hold steady between 20-28% women (depending on seniority). This type of ratio makes gender an identifier first and an asset second.
I leave you with these final thoughts: I genuinely enjoyed reading a novel where career and romance were balanced. Too many times, women are told the narrative that they can have a career or a love life. Young career women of color need more stories like this. If you are looking for a book about perseverance and justice with a romantic twist, read The Partner Track.
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