The Balance Project: a novel. by Susie Orman Schnall. SparkPress, 2015. 273 pages with Book Club Discussion Guide; The Balance Project Questionnaire. ****

"Sometimes things fall apart because life has something better to come."

Twenty-five year old Lucy Cooper, is assistant to high-powered, media darling, forty-five-year-old, Chief Operating Officer of Green Goddess and Co., Katherine Whitney. Whitney in her best-selling novel, the Balance Project, espouses that women can have it all...career, perfect marriage, adorable children, exercise, best friends...all it requires is balance. Lucy is the one charged with keeping it together for Katherine while Lucy's life is falling apart. Lucy has no time for her boyfriend Nick, laundry, best friend Ava, family, etc. Cracks soon appear in Katherine's perfectly balanced life when the nanny gets sick; her husband has an affair and Lucy applies for a different job. To save herself, Katherine undermines Lucy and their relationship with disastrous results!

Life's challenges for working women are poignantly told, humorously and realistically. Schnall has captured those moments when life gets in the way no matter how well planned the situation is.
Fans of The Devil Wears Prada will enjoy this book.

The Balance Project: a novel was inspired by the interview series called The Balance Project that Susie does on her website. There is a Questionnaire in the back of the book for anyone who wants to participate or you can go online to The Balance Project Interview.


Susie Orman Schnall grew up in LA and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. The Balance Project is her second novel. Her first novel, On Grace, won numerous awards.