Whips, Cleo Watson
Whips, Cleo Watson
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Whips

Author: Cleo Watson

Narrator: Cleo Watson, Olivia Dowd

Unabridged: 12 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/25/2023

Categories: Fiction


Synopsis

Westminster in the 2020s, where the business of governing is the last thing on the agenda for anyone worth their salt. In the SW1 bubble, politics moves fast, schemes are hatched and foiled - through both accident and conspiracy - within hours, and sex and power preside.

When Bobby Cliveden decides to campaign against the closure of her local mental health unit, she scarcely thought it would take her straight to the heart of the UK's bustling political centre. She heads to London to work for her local MP, the ambitious Simon Daly, and moves in with her two old university friends, Jess, a new lobby journalist, and Eva, a junior Downing Street adviser. The three of them quickly become wrapped up in the political circus of glamorous parties, insufferable bosses and demanding workloads - and the desire to win. Beneath the headline-grabbing battle of a male-dominated leadership contest, they discover the secret, soft-skilled machinery behind so much political change at the very highest level of government: women.

Riotous and all too believable, Whips is a timely satire on politics and Party people. Watson takes us behind the doors of Number 10 and delivers a gripping tale of modern government, filled with intrigue and scandal and written with insight and verve. Whips delivers on every promise.

This audiobook edition includes an exclusive Q&A between Cleo Watson and her editor James Gurbutt, where Cleo's extensive research for Whips, plans for Book 2, and the literary landscape for women in politics are discussed.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Baba

'Whips' in this case, despite the implied content depicted by the book cover, refers to those in Parliament that have to 'whip' Members votes to vote a specific way. Sort of outwardly packaged as a politics-with-sex-comedy, this is the 2020s story of three ambitious women friend working in the polit......more

Goodreads review by Lauren

Do you ever read a book and then ask yourself what the f*** you just read? This was one such book. University friends Eva, Jess and Bobby somehow happen to find themselves in the middle of the political circus that is the House of Commons in London: Eva as a junior SpAd to Prime Minister Madeleine F......more

Goodreads review by Sarah

Silly and fun, but not quite as silly and fun as I was expecting. I learned quite a bit about the day to day workings of government, I’m off to watch The Thick of It now.......more

Goodreads review by Ms

Faintly amusing Parliament romp. How the other half live eh?! Cleo Watson's former day job as Boris Johnson's Deputy Chief of Staff gives this book an air of truth (although if recent real-life revelations are to be believed then Watson's definitely soft-pedalled some aspects eg drug taking and fella......more


Quotes

Everything in here is real... a Jilly Cooper-style canter around that Westminster arena Sasha Swire, New Statesman

Whips is undoubtedly a page turner, but at the heart of it is also a genuinely heartwarming story of female friendship and the power of politics to do good, believe it or not. Whips revels in its own ridiculousness and is a riot because of it City AM

Whips joins the ageless genre of books about the dark heart of politics Financial Times

A riot! A delicious mix of the high farce and low cunning of the political world. Ridiculous, revealing and impossible to put down Laura Kuenssberg

A whip smart, funny and completely absorbing book Reader review

Explosive debut novel... very addictive Reader review

I found Whips so delightful... it is a joy to read. More than that, it is fun... The author, it is abundantly clear, is having a wonderful time. And as a result so does the reader.... the true love story is female friendship... I was more struck by how accurately it depicts the mild horror of being in one's early twenties... As I read the final page, I found myself welling up. I didn't know what to expect from Whips. I certainly wasn't expecting that Charlotte Ivers, The Sunday Times

[Watson] is a sprightly storyteller, and, if Westminster-watchers want some light reading for the beach, they need look no further Max Davidson, The Mail on Sunday

A tale of modern government, sex and scandal... very funny indeed Naga Munchetty, on 5Live

The red-hot political bonkbuster... a send-up of the people who run the country Susie Goldsbrough, The Times