NSFW: A Novel

NSFW by Isabel Kaplan
Published by Henry Holt and Co.
Publication date: July 5, 2022
Genres: Book Clubs, Debut, Fiction, Contemporary, Literary

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I recently read NSFW a debut from Isabel Kaplan and I’m fairly certain my visceral reaction to the novel is a response becoming more and more common to me and to many of the women I know given recent events in America. Which is to say, I found the novel to be triggering in a way that I would not have felt so strongly in the past.

NSFW’s narrator is unnamed—an interesting and telling choice given the novel’s plot. She’s newly graduated from Harvard and moves back to L.A. with two goals in her life: become a television executive and break away from her mother. One is achieved when she lands a highly coveted entry-level position at a network station, but it comes at the cost of the second goal. Her mother is friends with the network president and gets her the job.

A kind thing to do except the mother in NSFW is a deeply problematic character. She is a famous lawyer, known for taking on and winning sexual assault and sexual harassment cases. She’s raised her daughter on ‘smash the patriarchy’ rhetoric. But for all the strength and power she exerts in the courtroom, she’s an incredibly needy, manipulative person. In the first chapter we learn that during her divorce she suggested to her daughter they go on a diet together. She’s 10. This is just one example of child as extension of parent that permeates the novel in dismaying detail. The protagonist has had little autonomy in her own life and her needs have always been subjugated to her mother’s needs.

The job is a good one and she’s determined to prove herself. She is noticed and soon becomes the assistant to an important development executive. As she accrues power and is invited into more and more upper-level meetings, she begins to see the hidden undercurrent of sexism running through the office. This, plus her mother’s head games heightens her anxieties, leading her into more dangerous behavior.  Her rise continues, but the moment comes when events at the network bring her personal and professional life together, forcing her into an untenable position.

NSFW means Not Safe For Work. The definition is generally applied to online content that should not be viewed while in the office. In this case Kaplan cleverly twists NSFW to indicate that the office environment is what’s not safe for work. For women. Her protagonist is put in a Gordian knot that tightens with each passing page. Between the realities of sexual harassment in the office and toxic power dynamics in both her personal and professional lives, she has little hope of surviving with her mental health unscathed. The novel is timely with its take on office politics and social issues. Mixed in with dysfunctional family relationships it speaks volumes about ambition, consent, obligation, identity, and independence. The mother character felt implausible, but the rest of NSFW was engrossing.

 

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*I received a free copy of this book from Henry Holt & Co. in exchange for an honest review.*

 

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