P O L L Y C O U R T N E Y
Author of Golden Handcuffs | Poles Apart | Defying Gravity | The Day I Died | The Fame Factor
Polly's press & media appearances
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Do Brits know more than we think?
Self-flagellation and the City
Rediscover your Passion - Go It Alone
Finansmiljøet i London - et Jobbhelvete
Fear and Loathing in the Heart of the city
My Glittering City Career Turned into Golden Handcuffs
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by Polly Courtney (Matador, £7.99)
Marta graduated top of her class with dreams of finding a challenging career in marketing, specifically in London.
Polly Courtney portrays this as an all-too-familiar story for qualified Poles in Britain. In fact, she bases Poles Apart on a real-life case. She packs Marta's backdrop with clichéd London characters (womanising bankers, bitchy Sloanes and terrifying CEOs) and writes with the lightweight hand of a chick-lit writer. It would be throwaway stuff if it wasn't for Courtney's ability to breed empathy for an ethnic minority often subjected to negative stereotypes. What she fails to do is detail the reasons why Marta feels that success is specific to London - what is it about Poland that pushes its workforce out? And why in the face of racism, homelessness and unemployment does Marta still deem London preferable to her own home? |
Polly's TV & Radio appearances
Breaking Stereotypes of Poles in Britain
From Engineer to Investment Banker to Novelist
Berliner Zeitung Magazin, 2007
I Know the Pressure Matthew was Under
I Sold My Soul to the City - then Wanted it Back
Banker Novel Shows it's not all Success in the City
Taste of High Life in City can Seduce Interns
City Woman who quit City over Sexism admits Lapdancing
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So
this Polish woman sets off, via easyJet, to this nexus for migrants only
to find its residents riddled with prejudice, employment opportunities
narrowed to the service industry and living expenses sky-high.
