Driven Women

by X.A.J. Moret Bailly

Scandalous? Maybe they are. Ambitious? Certainly. Fun? Absolutely.

This book is not for the faint of heart: its heroines are true feminists, free-spirited, forward-thinking, modern women who are not afraid to go against social and moral conventions to get what they want – whether it is a career, a man or a family.

When a lion-headed logo starts finding its way in Xavière, Galatea and Lena’s lives, it marks the beginning of a journey through which the three friends will discover what the notion of accomplishment truly means to each of them.

Xavière works in venture capital in Silicon Valley, but her passion is endurance horseback riding - a passion she has more and more difficulty combining with her professional and family obligations. When she meets Ashish, a young and extremely successful African businessman, she starts seriously questioning those obligations.

Galatea fights hard to climb to the highest level in the French nuclear industry. An unrepentant seductress exclusively attracted to men of power, she discovers that she can't count on any of them when a strategic deal with Korea, her big chance to finally shine, mysteriously fails.

Lena lives in Stockholm and is openly in search of a man of high status, with whom to have a baby and lead a fancy life - but is it really what she wants? Adopted from Korea as a baby, her only birth souvenir is a medallion with a lion-headed logo on it, around which much speculation will revolve as a sequence of events suggests that this medallion is nothing trivial – and neither are the origins of the young woman.

Indeed, that Ashish's company logo is a lion head, might only be a coincidence. And that Galatea's deal went awry when she mentioned that very same lion-headed logo, might also only be a coincidence. Then again, it might not be.

From a castle in France to the deserts of Dubai, from the arrogant Silicon Valley to distinguished Stockholm, from a pop concert in Seoul to a white-and-blue villa in Greece, the adventures of the three friends take us from family mystery, to love affairs and professional triumph.

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2014

About the author

Author of the book Driven Women, published on Amazon.com on October 20th, 2014.

A French citizen with an international background, X.A.J. Moret-Bailly lives in California.

A graduate of several French "grandes ecoles", and pursuing a corporate career at C-suite level, she knows intimately the intricacies of the world of elite education and the thrills and challenges that pursuing an international corporate career presents for women, especially when combined with enthusiastic friends, a busy family life, and a couple intense passions.

Reviews

[Carly Ellen Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this three and a half stars, with a half star "bonus" for writing in a non-native language. As an author myself, I know the effort required to produce a quality novel in the language with which I am most comfortable; I simply cannot imagine tackling the task in a second or other language.

Having previously read Moret Bailly's blog, I was genuinely curious about the themes I might discover in Driven Women. As a professional woman who identifies as a feminist and chooses to (always) prioritize my family ahead of my career when such conflicts inevitably arise, I imagine Moret Bailly and I would see eye to eye on many but not all matters of interest to women who are Driven. On this front, I was not disappointed.

Driven Women offers interesting and deliberately diverse portrayals (mini case studies, if you will) of the construct of marriage across cultural boundaries. The subject of marriage has been fodder for many a feminist study, of course, but Moret Bailly's approach of exploring marriage through fiction with a little mystery, a little romance, and a sharp, critical edge was novel and refreshing.

While I appreciated the feminist lens and clear emphasis on the construct of marriage, I struggled a bit the genre of this book. Is it a mystery with a little bit of romance? A romance with a hint of mystery? A fictional ethnography? In the face of a more consistent voice, my own pondering of these questions would be irrelevant to potential future readers. However, the wavering of the author's voice seemed to reflect a struggle with genre that runs deeper than my own perception. At times, the author gives us literary prose. At times, the author slips into stark, sparse narrative. Because of this, I was occasionally flummoxed by the narration, and pulled from the story just a bit.

I would like to have seen the mystery angle - the story thread with the logo - fleshed out a bit further. It fell a bit flat for me. Admittedly, I am not well read in the mystery genre, so potential readers should take that opinion with a grain of salt. Readers looking for Storybook Romance will not find that here, a fact which I found refreshing. Romantic relationships involving women with active careers in the Real World must find their place amidst myriad Real World commitments, and are rarely Storybook Perfect. Driven Women isn't a book to read for escape, but rather a book to read for seriously thought-provoking entertainment.

[Vg195 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't like it. It was boring, lacked in every way and needed serious editing.

[Tracey Madeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The biggest problem with this book is its monotone nature. What I mean by this description is that we are constantly told what is happening and the story is not moved forward through showing and presenting the drama in different scenes. For example, the board room scene with Galatea. We are told she is the only woman, that she is undermined by her colleagues and marginalised. This would have been a great scene to show the dynamics of the board room through dialogue. What do they say to her? Do they talk over her when she is speaking? Do they dismiss what she says? Do they ask her to arrange for some refreshments? How does she react to this? Does she assert her authority? We could see her explaining the advantages of the business transaction when her boss can’t find the details. This would show her as a capable woman, able to compete in a modern world.

The conversation between the two women on Facebook was a nice reference to modern technology, but the conversation didn’t seem very interesting. It has to contribute and move the story on, or the reader just gets bored and switches off. A better example is between Xaviere and Ashish, as she doesn’t know she is communicating with him and we see more of her reasoning and motivation. We also get to see his indifference to the woman he is going to marry and the cultural differences and expectations.

There is drama in the book, although the first chapter seems odd and out of place. There is the mystery of the logo and the business interests behind this, although this is not really fully explored. Xaviere’s endurance racing which is perhaps the best and most developed of all the story lines. Galatea’s relationship with Jun-Ki, the famous singer, has its ups and downs and when Lena is confronted with her future in-laws her idea’s of marriage disappear.

In terms of character Xaviere is the most developed. We see her as an endurance horse racer. This is her passion, it is the reason she lives. In the race we see her compassion, her sense of fairness and ethicak integrity. It would also have been nice to see some more interaction with her family and how her racing impacts on their lives. Galatea would be more interesting if we knew how she dealt with men in business, how she coped with her boss and the very male world of Dubai. Her flirtation with the pop star Jun-Ki, when he sings to her in the shopping precinct, is interesting, as it shows her with the upper hand. Lena is the least developed of all the characters and it is debatable if we need her at all. I understand she provides the conclusion for the mystery of the logo, but this storyline could easily be taken out.

As a contrast some of the language is quite good. “Winter had been long and the sea inlets running through the city had only recently been freed of their shackles of ice.” The idea that winter has kept the country captive is a lovely image. “These thirty years, they were not only a past she dragged behind herself, they had settled all around her, in her, they were her present, future, they were the substance she was made of.” This is a reminder that our lives are made up of experience and memories, these are the things that shape us and influence our future reactions. The description of the castle when looked at from different approaches is an interesting feature. It is a pity more of the action is not based here, as the lavish description gives it an importance in the book which does not materialise.

I am not an expert when it comes to copyright law, but as the author points out in the beginning, no work may be copied without the author’s permission. It is therefore strange that so many and so much of the lyrics from songs are quoted. Were the authors asked permission before these were used for commercial purposes? There are also quite a few passages in foreign languages, which unless the reader can translate, you are forced to skip over unread. The odd word would be sufficient to give the idea of character; there is no need to use long passages.

I know what the writer was aiming for in this book, but unfortunately I don’t think she achieved it. I would suggest reading books like The Devil Wears Prada to get a feel of how career obsessed women are presented in fiction.

[K. Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driven Women by X.A.J Moret Bailly follows the lives of three friends: Xavière, Galatea and Lena, as they confront various challenges placed in front of them. This book has a lot of layers to it which made for an interesting premise and kept my attention in the beginning. At times the book was thought provoking but ultimately it was a disappointment. The main issues I had with this book related to the way the story was told and the long winded exposition, and I had a hard time buying into these characters and the premise of their story.

When I first started reading the book, I was impressed with the way the author combined so many different layers in telling this story. It started out as a story about three women, but I felt the author did an impressive job in layering in vignettes about globalization, power, relationships, corporate operations, technology, Africa, etc. This layering was immersive and I really felt like I was in the story and witnessing the interactions between the characters. Another positive aspect was some of the unconventional ways the author went about revealing the story, specifically the section of text messages between characters in Chapter 4. As mentioned by others, the storyline with the lion logo was fascinating at times and kept my interest. Lastly, there were some interesting gems throughout the story revealing some of the characters' internal monologues.

Of note, there was one scene (of many) where a character was contemplating cheating on her husband, and in one moment she pivots from hesitation to just plowing forward and going through with it. And at times I wondered whether this book was about women's empowerment or whether the author is really a mens rights advocate because all of the negative stereotypes about feminism are on display in this book: the elitism, credentialism, moral relativism, hypergamy, and just the general ability of characters to rationalize any behavior they wanted to take in the moment. This was not limited to the women characters, so in a broader sense this book highlighted some of the norms and behaviors of modern society. This made for a very compelling premise, but ultimately the book disappointed.

The main criticism I have is with the long winded narration that just drags the story at times and later the author begins to spoon feed the reader the storyline and it detracts from the enjoyment. There were whole sections in the book where the author would explain the internal thought process for each character even though it was all self evident from their actions. Even the story line with the logo started promising, but then I was disappointed with the way the whole mystery was revealed through the dialouge. Finally, there were pages and pages related to horse racing towards the end and by that point I had lost interest. Driven Women is an interesting story, but it was a disappointment for me.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Driven Women by Antigone Moret-Bailey.

Driven Women is the story of three women, Galatea, Xaviere and Lena; their relationships, a bizarre historical link between two of them which has international ramifications, their working and leisured existences. As such, the novel is a big project and the title could perhaps equally define the perspective of the author herself, juggling many storylines and drawing the work towards its conclusion.

The book suffers, it is difficult to say how much, from translation. Whether it has been translated from French or is simply the work of someone whose first language is French rather than English, it is difficult for the English reader to lose him or herself in the story given the continual linguistic anomalies. Furthermore, the ‘foreignness’ of the prose lends additional weight to the rather alien mindsets of Xaviere, Galatea and even Lena at times. Xaviere’s failure of maternal responsibility and Lena’s decision to bottle-feed her baby both feed in to the wider moral problems of the three women’s betrayals of their partners. The book, it must be said, is not a moral project and it is difficult to interpret its message - is this also an issue of language?

The novel is, I think, in the Jackie Collins style of fiction but also self-declared ’feminist’. I am not sure that the feminism of the three main characters was thoroughly thought through - they seem for much of the novel to be spoilt rich girls, part of an hedonistic international jetset and unconscious of the situation of real women. Occasionally there are flashes of feminist dialogue - Galatea’s debate with the CEO of Facebook for example - but the women are presented confusingly as both high-powered business women and as minions oppressed by unreasonable bosses. As readers we are too often told about their convictions whilst shown something rather different.

The novel is long and overly involved. There are many plotlines and a lack of consideration of the relationship between character and plot but this is the critique of someone who has never read a Jackie Collins novel on principle. There may well be a readership for this novel: it is romantic, international and high-powered, its three heroines are young, beautiful and unconventional, their male friends rich, handsome and devoted.

[Lisa Redfern · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first thing about Driven Women that caught my attention was the book cover. The black, red and white design is strong and striking. The cover image — with the horse, as well as the title — are attention-grabbing. I checked out the author’s website. She has posted a video of her dream cast if her book were made into a movie. Her character descriptions were so well done that I could easily imagine them. I was in complete agreement with her choice of actresses and actors. Her blog posts are thoughtful and well written.

Driven Women follows three highly educated international women during the early career and family building phase of their lives. The author says that the book is written with a shocking feminist point of view. I did not see it that way. I thought that the characters were conflicted about facing the realities of career, family and aging. To me, they appeared to be struggling to maintain younger, more carefree and less responsible versions of themselves. The book reads like a wish fulfillment daydream. There are no real consequences for decisions that are made.

Intrigue with the lion logo, the Korean mafia and the endurance horse riding is interesting - I could see those parts making a good movie.

I gave Driven Women 2 stars for the following reasons:

Unfortunately, it was obvious that English is a second language for the author. Phrasing and word usage were often incorrect and the story rambled in places. A good editor could easily improve those aspects.

The characters and the plot line were not appealing to me.

[Darrell Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb reads as feminist lit (chick-lit). I didn't get that at all. It had two romances with an international scandal involving a strange lion headed logo. This left me conflicted on this book. The five main characters independently picking up the pieces of the thirty year old mystery that impacted their current lives, was interesting, if slightly implausible at times. It made me want to read on as the mystery moved on.
The problem I had was with the two romances, the characters were there, the situations were there, but the romances fell short. The idea of women falling for men that don't fit how they want their lives to be could be powerful. But in this book it wasn't. Possibly because the woman had to face very similar decision at exactly the same time. Making the two woman who should be very different, seem to much the same character.
The book had great potential. Well defined characters, a neat mystery with the characters working it from different points of view. But the romance part dragged it down.