Given my recent two-year anniversary, it feels fitting to write about a book that deals with modern office work. After all, I started this journey as a response to some major professional burnout. And it can be majorly cathartic to read about the universality of white collar work. From HR trainings to the interpersonal dynamics, there’s so much more to think about than merely getting the work done. (Here is perhaps where I out myself as a bit of a work nerd… One of my favorite blogs – one I read daily – is Alison Green’s Ask A Manager.)

It’s also been a minute since I’ve read anything that felt epistolary, despite it being one of my favorite formats. Perhaps there have been fewer epistolary releases this year – at least epistolaries that didn’t carry a mystery flavor. And while I love a good epistolary crime novel, slice-of-life epistolaries – particularly those with chat messages – have their own charm. It’s delightfully voyeuristic to read through live chats, especially when there’s no murder implicated in the reading.

I was quite excited, then, to come across I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue. The novel follows Jolene, an admin at Supershops corporate, who ends up with access to her coworkers’ emails and DMs. Her path to that point has involved a professional mishap or two – so she attempts to use that knowledge to secure her professional position. And while I loved this for all the usual reasons I love epistolaries, I particularly loved its dissection of navigating culture – at work, and at home as a third-culture kid.

”The secret code” of corporate life

For those of us not born to the American professional class, learning its code must be a universally frustrating experience. Every decision – what to wear, how and when to speak, who to engage with – can feel fraught with unintended implications. Not only that – every workplace is unique, so there’s no handy book of rules to follow. Early in my career, I often found myself confused, as though those around me were playing a game whose rules I didn’t understand.

How much easier things would have been if I could have known more clearly what my colleagues thought of me! (Yes, I do have autism spectrum disorder.) Or even simply understood the multitude of non-personal reasons that might explain a curt interaction. Over time, I’ve learned to “read the air”, but New College Grad Owlet could have benefited greatly from a clear map of her coworkers, their thoughts, and their relationships.

…Which is why it is almost cathartic to read about Jolene and her magical access to her coworkers’ private messages. Jolene, who struggles to understand or get along with her coworkers, can suddenly understand their personal and professional context. And of course, that makes it much easier for her to build relationships with them (or undermine them). That access allows her to build a bond with Rhonda, who faces family challenges, and Armin, who shares her Iranian heritage. It allows her to understand broader company context, outside the petty squabbles of her department, and offer help to the right people at the right times.

And while it starts selfishly, Jolene finds that treating her coworkers as humans allows her to see them that way. She can finally “crack the code” and participate in a meaningful way, without second-guessing every interaction. In other words, her magical “clear pane of glass” transforms her office into a community.

Cracking the parental code

That community allows Jolene to build up her other connections, most notably with her family. Learning more about Rhonda’s relationship with her son forces her to reflect on her relationship with her own mother; her time with Armin reminds her of how much she loves some elements of Iranian culture. Learning to see her coworkers as fully human allows her to transfer that same perspective to her parents.

And yet – Jolene gets “stuck” in actually connecting with them. In part, this is due to an out-of-control lie that she can’t figure out how to roll back. But even before that, Jolene hides significant parts of herself from her family, though it clearly causes her pain. (Reading these family moments felt a lot like watching that one episode of Queer Eye with the Iranian kid who hadn’t told his parents about his failure to graduate. Exactly as relatable, and exactly as heartbreaking.)

For Jolene, every failure or setback she experiences is double or tripled by the expectations she believes her parents have for her. For so many third-culture kids, our entire childhoods are spent under a microscope, trying to attain professional and/or personal perfection. And when we grow up, and want to ask our parents for love or help, we find we no longer know how to make that connection. Sue has done an eerily good job of capturing that experience, the sense of frustration and isolation that comes with knowing your parents love you but never hear you. And while I Hope This Finds You Well is ostensibly a book about the workplace, its story of loving your roots and finding home with them is just as important – and just as cathartic.

Community, IRL

When I first picked up I Hope This Finds You Well, I was expecting a light, workplace comedy, with some entertaining epistolary interludes. And on that front, Sue delivers…. But she has also created a story with a deeper core, that touches on community and family and connection. Not only that – in an age where it feels like we are growing apart in the real world, Sue’s novel highlights how any random smattering of people can become a community, even your IRL coworkers. I was surprised – and pleased – to find myself tearing through these pages, wishing Jolene nothing but the best.

This also made me wish for more true epistolaries in my life… Does anyone have any leads on new ones from this year?

Until next time – stay cozy, and stay curious.

❤️,
🦉

*This will count for my book about finding identity in the 52 Book Club challenge.