Short Change

by Julia Notaro

When Lisa's brother suggests she apply to the London branch of the Japanese Haru bank as a trainee dealer, she relishes the prospect of the Docklands flat, the huge salary and the liquid lunches.

But Lisa soon learns that the trading floor of a city bank deals not so much in office politics as open warfare. And with so much going against her (not least, at under five feet tall, her lack of inches), she must summon up the full force of her caustic wit and native cunning to combat Lee, the King of the dealing room, Stephanie, the Queen and Simon, the Serpent.

And with the arrival of Frank from Japan - complete with perm, sunglasses and repertoire of Elvis Presley classics - Lisa must also negotiate the pitfalls of falling in love...

Genres: Chick Lit

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2000

Reviews

[Nicki]

This is a reread of a book I’ve had for about 15 years. Liked it when I first read it and hung onto it to reread someday.
I pretty much figured this one would be going after a quick few chapter read, my taste has changed a bit since I was in my 20’s reading chick lit almost exclusively.
Well I will say it’s a little dated and I certainly liked Lisa less this time around, but I still enjoyed Lisa’s experiences in the blokey world of banking. I’m not sure why exactly, I have no interest in banking, but as with the first read, I did find it interesting reading.
What lifted this a little was the Japanese working culture insight. I wasn’t into Japan on my first read, so this angle passed me by a little. Though it’s set in the UK, Lisa works for a Japanese bank and some of her co workers are Japanese men, including a guy she has a romance with. (I say romance, for a chick lit book, it is surprisingly low on romance). Most of this is about Lisa’s work life and the colourful characters she works with. The author, from the cover, lives in Japan and I believe is married to a Japanese man, so this does ring true rather than being culturally insensitive. (Some of it kind of still is I guess, but it’s written from an earlier time). The affection the author writes the flawed Japanese men with is apparent.
Not perfect by a long shot, but enjoyed my reread and this one will be staying.

[The Cats’ Mother]

It's very rare for me to abandon a book half-way, but this was so stupid, boring and implausible that I realised I was wasting precious hours of my life. I know nothing about banking, and this didn't shed any light. It wasn't funny, the heroine was lazy and annoying, and the other characters completely unbelievable.