-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A richly drawn, unsettling, and wickedly funny story of envy and ambition set against the glamor and privilege of media and high society in New York City at its height.
At the turn of the millennium, editorial assistant Clodagh "Clo" Harmon wants nothing more than to rise through the ranks at the world's most prestigious fashion magazine. There's just one problem: She doesn't have the right pedigree. Instead, Clo is a "workhorse" surrounded by beautiful, wealthy, impossibly well-connected "show horses" who get ahead without effort, including her beguiling cubicle-mate, Davis Lawrence, the daughter of a beloved but fading Broadway actress. Harry Wood, Davis's boarding school classmate and a reporter with visions of his own media empire, might be Clo's ally in gaming the system―or he might be the only thing standing between Clo and her rightful place at the top.
In a career punctuated by moments of high absurdity, sudden windfalls, and devastating reversals of fortune, Clo wades across boundaries, taking ever greater and more dangerous risks to become the important person she wants to be within the confines of a world where female ambition remains cloaked. But who really is Clo underneath all the borrowed designer clothes and studied manners―and who are we if we share her desires?
Hilariously observant and insightful, Workhorse is a brilliant page-turner about what it means to be in thrall to wealth, beauty, and influence, and the outrageous sacrifices women must make for the sake of success.
"Darker than some famous predecessors, Palmer's novel teases out class issues behind the doors of elite Manhattan media. Tense, propulsive, and authentic." —Kirkus Reviews
"Former fashion editor Palmer renders Clo's world in vivid, gritty detail alongside sharp commentary on class, ambition, and women's roles in the publishing industry." —Booklist
"A fast-paced and funny examination of ambition and its consequence." ―The New York Times
"A fierce, funny, and unflinching examination of ambition, class, and the quiet indignities of being underestimated. You certainly don't need to have worked in fashion to appreciate Palmer's razor-sharp and deliciously wry observations about the industry―but as someone who did, I both adored and applaud her honesty." ―Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters
"Workhorse is a sly, fun, and astutely observed novel about what happens when one young woman's ambition runs amok. Caroline Palmer transports you to the world of glossy magazines in the early 2000s, back when the going was good―the expense accounts, the parties, the fashion―while weaving in a suspenseful story about an assistant who will do anything in her power to move up on the masthead. It was propulsive, surprising, and fun. I ate it up." ―Emma Rosenblum, bestselling author of Mean Moms and Bad Summer People
This information about Workhorse was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
From 2014 to 2019, Caroline Palmer was the director of editorial, video, and social media at Amazon Fashion. Prior to her tenure at Amazon, she spent seven years as the editor of Vogue.com. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The New York Times, Life, Seventeen magazine, and Vogue. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband and three children. Workhorse is her first novel.
If you liked Workhorse, try these:
by Elaine Castillo
Published 2026
A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—bringing Castillo's trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.
by Danzy Senna
Published 2025
A brilliant dark comedy about love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial- identity-industrial complex from the bestselling author of Caucasia.
by Hari Kunzru
Published 2025
From one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about beauty and power, capital, art and those who devote their lives to creating it
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
