Beauty

This "absorbing and memorable novel" (Tom Perrotta) set in the world of corporate intrigue is about a woman who must choose between her dream job and everything else--her savings, her reputation, and an unexpected chance at love. As a corporate "undertaker" for a mergers and acquisitions firm in New York, Carol MacLean travels from factory to factory, firing blue-collar workers who remind her of her father and the kids she grew up with. The payoff is huge: if Carol works hard enough, her boss has promised to make her CEO of one of the firm's holdings. Just when it seems like her dream might come true, on a trip that takes her away from New York to a desperate fishing town in coastal Massachusetts, Carol gets a call from the office: "You're fired." Those words shake Carol to her core. But with the help of the townspeople and a charming local fisherman, she begins to understand the power of life's second acts. She becomes determined to save the factory she almost shut down. As Carol throws herself into transforming the company, she must choose between the job she has always wanted ... and everything else. From award-winning author Frederick G. Dillen, Beauty reminds us that sometimes in the pursuit of what we think we want, we lose sight of what matters most.