Book Review: High Potential
The Latest Novel by Irish Australian Author Ber Carroll
Katie Horgan is an upcoming young lawyer in the Sydney branch of a prestigious international law firm. At the tender age of 32, she is already earmarked as a high flyer, and is selected to compete against five colleagues for three new partnerships. One of these colleagues is handsome Irishman Jim Donnelly. Despite their obvious attraction to each other, Katie is unsure whether Jim is available.
As part of her training, Katie is sent to work for four months in the firm’s Dublin office. She develops a love for the country and her assignment running a free legal advice centre is extremely rewarding. Despite at first missing the potential relationship with the enigmatic Jim, Katie soon finds herself caught up in tracing her family.
Both Katie’s parents immigrated to Australia from Ireland before Katie and her older brother were born. Her mother has never spoken of the life she left behind, and Katie is determined to discover where she came from and whether she has any family remaining in Ireland.
When Jim follows Katie to Ireland, she discovers the truth not only about his past but also that of her parents. A series of events leads to a devastating accident that may not only spell the end for Jim and Katie’s new relationship but also forces her to confront the enormous secret that her mother has been hiding for so long.
A Chick Lit Novel with Something Extra
While High Potential certainly covers all the usual ground that readers have come to expect from the chick lit genre – successful young heroine, quirky side characters, handsome yet flawed heroes – the addition of Katie’s mother’s story prevents it from becoming just another book about a cute girl finding love.
It is also refreshing to find a romance novel where the central character is not only successful in her career, but also satisfied. So many similar novels tend to present such careers as only for shallow, self-centred women, and the heroine’s journey of self-discovery often involves leaving such careers behind for life in more “humane” fields of endeavour.
While Katie is a sympathetic heroine, and her work in the free legal clinic is obviously meant to increase her likeability to the reader, at no time is her ambition to become partner presented in a disapproving way. There are certainly other characters that portray the more negative aspects of ambition, but these are shown more as flaws in their behaviour rather than in their chosen career path.
Potential for Success in Australia
Already a successful author in her home country of Ireland, Ber Carroll is a newcomer to the literary scene in Australia, where she has lived for the past ten years. With Macmillan Australia’s planned release of Carroll’s first two novels Executive Affair and Just Business, published in Ireland by Poolbeg, Carroll is set to make a name for herself in her adopted country as well.
