I Hope This Finds You Well

December 1, 2023

Billed as a heartwarming office comedy, this debut is HarperCollins's Lead Read for the summer, with a 100K-copy first printing. When admin Jolene accidentally gets access to her coworkers' emails, she decides to use them to help save her own job from layoffs but finds herself unexpectedly caring about her colleagues. Prepub Alert.

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March 1, 2024
When a friendless office worker inadvertently finds herself able to read her co-workers' emails, she hatches a plan to become a star employee. Jolene Smith doesn't fit in at work. She doesn't socialize with her co-workers or even engage in small talk--in fact, she's pretty sure they're all making fun of her behind her back. Jolene takes out her frustration by writing her real thoughts ("Deep in my core, I find you insufferable") at the end of her emails in white text, so they're invisible to the recipients--but when she forgets to change the text color in a diatribe against a co-worker who microwaved an especially smelly lunch, she gets caught. She's forced to attend an anti-harassment course with the new HR guy, Clifford. Jolene is humiliated, especially when Cliff sets up new security measures on her computer. But Jolene quickly notices that there's an unintended consequence to the changes--now she's able to read everyone's emails and messages. She can see the terrible things her co-workers are saying about her from the safety of their keyboards...but she can also gather intel that could help her improve her performance. With her insider knowledge, Jolene is able to do better work and start connecting with her colleagues for the first time. She also starts to realize that Cliff the HR guy is very nice--even if he is very off-limits. As Jolene gets to know her co-workers better, she sees that they all have their secret heartbreaks and struggles, just like her. But will she be able to let people see the real Jolene? In her debut, Sue creates a vivid portrait of a truly lonely, heartbroken woman. Anyone who has worked in an office will appreciate the level of detail Sue uses to describe the experience--the particular bleakness of a sad office party, the petty gossip, the alliances and enmities. Jolene starts out afraid of connection and unable to view her coworkers as anything other than adversaries. It's immensely satisfying to see her accept that other people might actually like her, if only she has the courage to be known. A beautiful, honest, and often funny look at loneliness and the courage it takes to simply keep going.

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Starred review from March 18, 2024
Sue debuts with a delightfully quirky office comedy about a 33-year-old administrative assistant’s interpersonal battles in a Canadian supermarket chain’s regional office. Jolene’s days consist of eight hours of mind-numbing work, followed by drinking to forget about the accidental death of her best friend, Ellie, when they were in high school. At the office, she adds cathartic notes in white font at the bottom of emails (after thanking “morale club” leader Rhonda for a reminder about a meeting, she invisibly adds, “Deep in my core, I find you insufferable”). When Jolene forgets to white out a nasty note to her nemesis Caitlin, who subsequently complains, she’s forced to complete an antiharassment course and have her emails monitored. Instead of adding the restrictions to her computer, however, the HR guy accidentally gives Jolene access to all her fellow employees’ inboxes and direct messages. Among the funny discoveries is a thread between a coworker and his parents in which he sends photos of Jolene and claims she’s his girlfriend. The workplace hijinks produce steady laughs, and Sue adds depth through the backstory of Ellie, with whom Jolene found solace as a fellow misfit. This is a must-read for fans of Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came to the End. Agent: Melanie Figueroa and Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary.

April 15, 2024
This entertaining and surprisingly weighty debut gives voice to the lonely, depressed Jolene. Working a soul-sucking office job with duplicitous coworkers, Jolene ends her proper emails with very improper thoughts written in white text. After forgetting to change the text color, she is required to attend HR training led by Cliff, a new hire surely there to weed out the riffraff. It doesn't help that Jolene is broken; a traumatic past incident keeps her from getting close to anyone or anything besides a gin bottle. She even ignores her loving but overbearing Iranian mother, who thinks Jolene deserves a promotion and a good man. When the email monitoring system put on Jolene's computer malfunctions, she can access everyone's inbox and chats. Deciding this will help her get revenge while also getting ahead in the company, she hatches a nefarious plan. But forming a friendship with Cliff and discovering that everyone has their issues weren't part of the plan. Sue is an engaging writer, and with some comforting predictability, her debut is a fun, worthwhile ride.

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