Sophia of Silicon Valley

Yen’s disappointing debut takes readers back to the early days of the tech industry’s rise. The daughter of successful Taiwanese immigrants, Sophia Young is hired as investor relations person at Treehouse, a groundbreaking computer-based animation studio founded by eccentric visionary Scott Kraft. Sophia, who still lives at home, is so dedicated to her new job that it eventually costs her the love of her boyfriend, Daniel, an environmental consultant. After a serious illness causes her to reassess her priorities, Sophia accepts a job from Andre Stark, an equally eccentric visionary and inventor of a radical new type of automobile. But will Sophia ever be able to reconcile her personal and professional lives? The author, whose background includes working at Pixar and Tesla, obviously knows the terrain but can’t breathe life into the novel. Unfortunately, this familiar story of a woman coming into her own while working for a demanding boss falls flat. (Apr.)