Three years ago, I had a baby. Becoming a mother opened a whole new set of challenges at home and at work. Twelve weeks after my daughter’s birth, I returned to work. On my first day back, a new partner asked me to stay late. Around 7 P.M., when I told him more insistently I really did need to feed my newborn, he—a father of three—said, “How old is your daughter?” I said, “Oh, she’s three months.” And he responded, “Well, she’s not really a newborn anymore then.” I explained that either way she needed to eat. He magnanimously granted twenty minutes, completely oblivious to the fact that “feeding” meant with my breasts. That night, my husband drove thirty minutes to bring our daughter to the office, and I nursed her in the parking garage.
These are the kinds of things I discuss with my girlfriends, while I’m walking Town Lake with them at lunch or at book club or working out. I found myself discussing these stories so much that I started writing Whisper Network. As the story grew, I realized the book deserved a chorus, a voice for the collective women, beyond the women of my novel and beyond me. I called my best friend from law school, who told me about a compliance hotline that often threads complaints directly back to the very person complained about. I talked to my friend who returned from maternity leave to more than two thousand emails because no one helped while she was away. I spoke with an attorney, struggling with infertility, who was told point blank by a male partner that women are no longer useful to the firm once they’ve had children. All these stories became the book’s “we” narrator, a means to talk about the working woman experience, of which sexual harassment is certainly a piece, but not the ONLY piece.
As I was writing this book, I was—and still am—hopeful about how our attitudes toward sexual harassment have been changing. Interestingly, one of my good friends called me while I was finishing the first draft and asked if I could recommend an attorney to handle a sexual harassment claim for her. She told me an incident had occurred at a conference and, while she didn’t want to offer details, she hoped I could connect her with someone. I’m embarrassed to say that my first reaction was: Are you sure you want to do this? I felt terrible. I’m a lawyer and a writer who has spent countless hours contemplating speaking up about harassment, but I also cared about her wellbeing and knew that speaking up could still come with a high price. Particularly if a woman isn’t someone with a platform or any other ostensible form of protection, or if she holds other marginalized identities. But. Things are changing. Slowly, definitely unevenly, but I do think they are changing, thanks largely to the many brave women who have stopped whispering.
As women shared their stories with me, writing Whisper Network became a quasi–whisper network of its own. I look forward to sharing this book with readers who I hope will continue to expand the network in new ways.
Best,
Chandler
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chandler Baker lives in Austin with her husband and toddler. She works as a corporate attorney and is the author of five young adult novels. Whisper Network is her adult debut.
Visit her online at ChandlerBakerBooks.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WHISPER NETWORK. Copyright © 2019 by Chandler Baker. All rights reserved. For information, address Flatiron Books, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.flatironbooks.com
Cover design by Lisa Amoroso
Cover photograph © Ada Summer/Getty Images
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-31947-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-26871-6 (Canadian)
ISBN 978-1-250-31949-4 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250319494
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First U.S. Edition: July 2019
First Canadian Edition: July 2019
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