This Could Hurt

Medoff (I Couldn’t Love You More) explores the effects of the 2008 economic downturn on a small staff of human resources managers at a research firm in this witty novel. At the twilight of a successful career, 64-year-old Rosa Guerrero, Ellery Consumer Research’s widowed HR chief, is losing her edge. She experienced a ministroke some years earlier and now has had a second; at work, she’s endured a major lieutenant’s embezzlement and company cutbacks. Rosa is tough but secretly a mother hen, so it’s sweet (but never saccharine, because of Medoff’s wry and ironic sensibility) when her most trusted staffers nurture and cover for her to keep her at the job that is her whole life. At least one of the four underlings whose stories are told along with Rosa’s has ulterior motives, but all will recognize their weaknesses and become more fulfilled by the end. The characters are well-drawn, though the author gets stuck in their personal tangents, which occasionally drags down the storytelling. Nevertheless, this is a sharp and moving novel. [em](Jan.) [/em]