A Woman of Valour

We have had to undertake two long train journeys during this holiday, and as I always have a horror of being stuck with nothing to read, I have made sure to bring some reading material with me. Apart from "Master and Commander" which I have still not managed to finish off a month after starting it, I have brought two books by writers to whom Twitter has introduced me - "Bullied By the Boss" by Eva James (aka @bulliedbyboss) and A Woman of Valour by Tamara West or @AWomanOfValour.

Having read "Bullied by the Boss"" twice, I move onto "A Woman of Valour" while travelling between Vienna and Prague. I read it all the way through without stopping, and Husband gives up trying to talk to me because I am just going "mmmm" without taking in anything he is saying.

The unfolding saga of Rebecca and her bullying boss Derek occasions feelings of outrage, anger and frustration. Frustration, because I wish very much that I had read this book and Eva's a year ago when, driven to a point where I felt I had no other option, I filed a formal complaint against Line Manager for his bullying behaviour towards me.

There are many parts of the book which occasion my own flashbacks, and one of the most potent is when Howard (Derek's boss, and hence even more senior to Rebecca) advises her: "I have to warn you that this will all end in tears", and later "I want you to think very carefully about proceeding with this nonsense you have concocted".

It reminds me of all the things Former Boss said to me when he tried to get me to drop my complaint against Line Manager. Mainly this thing:

"I don't think this is going to end well for you, Katharine".

Alas, being a literal minded person, I completely failed to understand Former Boss's true meaning !! To wit:

"I am personally going to make damn sure that this is not going to end well for you".

And he was as good as his word. Because almost every hurdle I subsequently had to surmount was carefully constructed by none other than Former Boss....

- His "investigation" which somehow managed to avoid speaking to any of the witnesses to the main incident
- His "investigative report" which sought to exonerate Line Manager and put the whole blame on me
- His efforts in tandem with Director to paint the entire matter as merely a personality clash
- His gossiping to senior officers from outside the department, a major confidentiality breach about which nothing was done
- His passing to Line Manager of confidential documents in order to assist him with his case

Deary me. Former Boss does not come out of this particularly well, now I bethink me. Still, he's now a retiree swanning around the Algarve, so I don't suppose he gives a rat's a***.

If I had read more books and opened a Twitter account a year ago, then I might have better anticipated what Former Boss and his cronies were going to do. Instead (apologies! I wince with some embarrassment at my naivete) I actually believed that everyone was going to follow policies and protocols religiously, and that furthermore everyone was going to tell the truth. Especially senior management.

Ah well.
I know better now.

But the more I think of it, the more miraculous it seems that despite everything I actually managed to win my case, and that Line Manager received a formal reprimand. And that he was required to apologise to me. And that he knows he can never treat me so appallingly again.

I put "A Woman of Valour" away in my bag.
Husband notices that I have finished, and removes his iPod headphones.
"Good book?" he asks.
"Yes", I say. "Very good. It's given me a lot to think about".