Moral Hazard

Publisher's synopsis

In the world of high finance, reflects Cath, women are about as welcome as fleas in a sleeping bag. She’s in a unique position to note this fact. A confirmed liberal who can scarcely contain her own sarcastic wit, she is a spy in the house of Mammon; a speechwriter for self-important plutocrats, disguising their greed with lulling words. Cath has found herself on Wall Street because she needs serious money. After ten good years, her beloved husband, Bailey, is suffering from a tragically early case of Alzheimer’s.

So begins Cath’s journey into two nightmare worlds. Caught between them, she must grasp whatever will keep her from falling apart – even if that means risking moral hazard.

Kate Jennings’ prose is lean yet rich in telling detail. Tense and compulsively readable, Moral Hazard reveals the soap-bubble fragility of this closed world and the steely strength of the people who inhabit it.

Awards

Winner 2003 NSW Premier’s Award, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
Winner 2003 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal
Winner 2003 Adelaide Festival Fiction Prize
Shortlisted 2003 The Miles Franklin Award

Other Recommended Titles

The Good Parents

The Lost Dog

The Year of Living Dangerously

Doctor Wooreddy’s Prescription for Enduring the Ending of the World

Kate Jennings

Kate Jennings, a poet, essayist, and novelist, comes from the Riverina. She attended Sydney University in the late 1960s, where she gained notoriety as a feminist activist. She moved to New York City in 1979. Her novel Snake (1996) was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, as was Moral Hazard (2002), which was based on her experiences as a Wall Street speechwriter. Her work has been in contention for the Booker, IMPAC, and Los Angeles Times literary prizes. She has won the prestigious Christina Stead and Adelaide Festival prizes and been honored with the Australian Literary Society’s gold medal.

Further Details

Author Kate Jennings

Publisher Text Publishing

Date of Publication 2002

ISBN 9781922182159 (print)

Category Novels