ANDREA HOFFMAN GOES ALL IN

In Schneider’s debut novel, a resourceful young woman finds her calling in the stock market of 1980s Chicago.

Twenty-four-year-old Andrea Hoffman is listlessly working at a boutique when an armed robber enters the store. She survives unharmed but promptly quits. After seeing an ad in the newspaper, Andrea, who majored in philosophy, to the chagrin of her parents, manages to convince Harold Stackman of Mosley Securities to hire her as his sales assistant. The world of selling stocks often seems both heartless and pointless, but Schneider, who was herself a Wall Street executive, manages to make the work interesting and Andrea’s co-workers human; Harold himself becomes a mentor to Andrea as she ascends the workplace ladder. She trains herself to drink scotch, snort cocaine, negotiate bigger and bigger stock trades. But despite Andrea’s accomplishments, she feels like it’s not enough (“I don’t have kids, I don’t have a husband. I don’t have a PhD….I don’t count”). And like many women in their 20s, she has some crappy hookups with bartenders, doormen, and even a married colleague while trying to find a deeper connection. There are occasional moments of tension, such as the robbery and the constant reshuffling of stock firm ownership, but this tale is ultimately a charming probe into a young woman’s pursuit of what she wants to do and who she wants to be. The book spans multiple years as Andrea approaches 30, and some threads are left open in the time jumps, but Schneider has created an endearing, authentic lead.

An accessible story of embracing adulthood anchored by a charismatic protagonist.