Whisper Network

The prologue opens with an unattributed quote: “If only you’d listened to us, none of this would have happened” (1). It then relates three eyewitness accounts of someone jumping off of a building on April 12. The last account suggests that the jumper was selfish for jumping when so many people were around.

First-person plural narration describes the lives of a group of working women: They are too busy, overqualified, and trying to parent while working.

The narrative switches to third-person omniscient narration. On March 20, Desmond Bankole, the CEO of Truviv, the Dallas athletic wear company where the women work, dies. The women do not know or particularly care about Bankole, but his death means that their boss Ames Garrett, currently the Senior Vice President of North American Legal Affairs, could become the new CEO. This prospect scares Adriana Valdez, who hates Ames. Ames hates her too because she’s someone “he didn’t enjoy looking at” (7). It is clear that Ames has a bad history with women at the company.

In her office, Grace Stanton is painfully pumping breast milk, while Ardie is hiding from Ames.